Posted On:
August 6, 2007
Creative Defenses- Prostitution
A State Representative in Florida was arrested for allegedly offering $20 for the right to perform a oral sex on another man. The Rep, Bob Allen, is another Republican with a strong anti-gay family values voting record. Instead of going to rehab Mr. Allen puts forth a defense of necessity.
"This was a pretty stocky black guy, and there was nothing but other black guys around in the park," Allen, who is white, told police in a taped statement after his arrest. Allen said he feared he "was about to be a statistic" and would have said anything just to get away.
I've prosecuted prostitution cases, never defended one. It never occured to me that Necessity could be a defense.
Would this work in Texas? Here is our necessity law.
Conduct is justified if: (1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm; (2) the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct.
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Comments
DATE: 8/6/07 9:25 PM
I'm going to say that offering to go down on a fellow in public is not exactly the escape route that necessity envisioned, but it's damn creative. Would a reasonable man standard really hold up such behavior?
Posted by:
February 27, 2008 5:24 PM
DATE: 8/7/07 7:05 AM
I saw a murder trial use a necessity/duress defense in Texas. They got a hung jury twice, so it worked surprisingly well. I believed it.
Posted by:
February 27, 2008 5:24 PM