I have previously discussed the pattern of prosecutors in either not charging false rape victims or seeking relatively light sentences despite the incarceration of innocent men. (here, here, here, here, here, and here). While I would never recommend a prison sentence for a rape victim who simply identified the wrong man by mistake, the most disturbing cases are those involving false rape claims. For an example of this problem, you need to go no further than the case of Elizabeth Paige Coast.
Coast, 26, accused Johnathan C. Montgomery, a former neighbor of raping her in 2000 when she was 10 years old and he was 14. She later admitted that she made up the story and lied on the witness stand at his June 23, 2008, trial.
Montgomery’s life was ruined and he spent four years in jail. Coast however was sentenced by Hampton Circuit Court Judge Bonnie L. Jones to just two months in jail and ordered to make $90,000 in restitution for perjury. Jones suspended the rest of the five-year sentence and even allowed Coast to serve the remainder on weekends so not to disrupt her life.
Coast blamed her crimes on her reading adult material on the Internet by her mother. When her strict religious mother caught her, the mother (Coast claims) suggested that she was viewing the material because she had been sexually assaulted. She said that the jumped at the excuse to get out of trouble. She said she gave her mother the name of Montgomery when pressed to identify the assailant. Her lawyer insisted that, because she came forward, any jailing would send the wrong message to others who lie about crimes.
Hopewell Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard K. Newman asked for a 10-year sentence with six years suspended so she would serve the same length of time as Montgomery.
I certainly agree that Coast should be credited with coming forward. However, she is now 26. That means that this man went to jail when she was 22. She was 17 when he made the allegations.
Sixty days on weekends sends a message of a different kind: that false rape victims are not subject to the same punishment afforded others who file false police reports, ruin lives, or commit perjury.
Perhaps the most infamous refusal to charge such a case involved Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, the stripper who falsely accused members of the Duke lacrosse team. She became a national celebrity as activists warned that anything but long criminal sentences would be proof of racism by the prosecutors. Durham D.A. Mike Nifong joined this lynch mob atmosphere despite the absence of forensic evidence to support the claim of rape. When he was removed and the lie was exposed however North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper refused to prosecute Mangum, who ruined the lives of these students and triggered racial tensions in the region. Cooper simply let her walk in a disgraceful but politically expedient decision.
Notably, there is no published review of the original case and the evidence against Montgomery. There appears only the evidence of the accuser in the case and it makes me wonder about the prosecutor’s role in the case.
Source: Times Dispatch
She was 17. She was not a woman.
If she’s 26 now, and she testified in 2008, she was 21 then, not 17.
As Michael Val noted above, the numbers in this report don’t add up. At least one of the details is wrong; we just don’t know which.
And we should get her ugly face off of the blog. My flowers in the room wilted when we moved the computer screen around the room for an experiment.
Of course what the judge does in the name of justice and what the relatives do in the name of justice are two different matters– different strokes for different folks. Which is why God made rifles.
“I’m sure the judge considered all the mitigating factors and sentenced wisely.”
terafied, How would you like to buy some prime real estate in south Florida. It’s just a short drive to the coast!!
She was 17. She was not a woman. We give kids breaks all time .. why not this one? Oh, because she is a female who actually did something that lives in urban lore. It’s like being caught for voter fraud and having the GOP say “SEE!!!???”
If she were 27 I’d say hit her with false reporting, obstruction and perjury and give her the maximum sentence. I’m sure the judge considered all mitigating factors and sentenced wisely.
They probably had sex back when she was 10 and he was 14. Part of the reason she brought it up when she was 17 was, she was hurt and furious that he spurned her after she grew up. But finally her love for him overcame her fury, and she lied by recanting.
There must have been “extenuating circumstances” because:
1. They were kids at the time, BOTH OF THEM;
2. Her word against his, because the evidence would have been long gone;
3. He probably said that they were friends, so circumstantial evidence;
4. Witnesses?
I mean, you just don’t get convicted on someone accusing you right at the edge of what would normally be the statute of limitations, without some evidence or witnesses of some kind. If you do, the whole judicial system is tremendously flawed.
Are there links to the actual details of the case? If there are, I missed them.
I am sorry women like her are the reason why real rape victims do not go to the police. She should get the same like her victim did. If I was the guy I so would sue her for everything she owns.
Robin, The book of which you speak is The Innocent Man by John Grisham. The book is a compelling story and indeed shows the depravity of the prosecutors. I only ask that you not paint all prosecutors w/ the same brush.
Maddog, That’s your son who just lost 5 years of his life. Now, give me your benevolent speech about the poor girl.
something not mentioned here or maybe its time i get stronger glasses. is the fact that prosecutors have no incentive to prosecute the false reporter. its them putting the so called rapist in jail that goes on their resume for their future in polietricking.
anyone remember the book by james patterson “Innocent man” its the one book he wrote based on true life. where the man was a almost famous baseball player who had undiagnosed mental illiness. a woman was raped and killed and they interviewed every man in town and the prosecutors decided that the baseball player committed it and they went after him with everything they had until they got a guilty plea and put that man on death row… it tooks years and years but the innocent project finally got the man free and the prosecutors were caught hiding evidence, lying, threatening witnesses and even after the truth came out. they still refused to apologize. they wouldnt even release the poor guy until a yr later and the judges didnt do anything about it. and they were still bound and determined that the baseball guy committed the crime and not the original rapist and killer who eventually confessed.
prosecutors dont give a darn about right or wrong all they care about is their resumes to get into po lie tricking thats it and all…
This is one of those arm-chair situations where it is too easy to chime in and start calling for a more harsh sentence on this liar. Wee don’t know how nuts she is. If she is not nutty enough to interpose the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity that does not mean that her lesser version of insanity should not be taken into consideration upon sentencing her. We do not have the full record and should not judge the judge. But that being said, someone ought to slap her mother around for not clueing in the prosecutor to begin with that the victim here was unreliable.
I did think about that, the problem is the deterrance factor is related to the possibility of being caught. I still think we need to encourage people to come clean rather than discourage them. I work with a lot of wrongful accused, I’ve talked to people who have been mistaken in some instances, and lied for a number of reasons in others. I cannot believe that punishment is going to solve the problem. It’s hard enough to get people to come clean as it is.
“Hampton Circuit Court Judge Bonnie L. Jones”
Did you get that name Chief Justice Roberts … here is a new appointee for you on the FISA court.
nick spinelli 1, August 20, 2013 at 5:05 pm
David, A stiff sentence and clear message that falsely accusing someone of rape is going to put you in prison for years, not days, will help PREVENT anyone from having to recant. Didn’t you ever think of that?
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Good point Nick.
Nal 1, August 20, 2013 at 4:19 pm
Dredd,
We know. WP goofed. Everything should be back to normal.
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Thanks.
I thought we had been Miranda’d …
David, A stiff sentence and clear message that falsely accusing someone of rape is going to put you in prison for years, not days, will help PREVENT anyone from having to recant. Didn’t you ever think of that?
“Coast, 26, accused Johnathan C. Montgomery, a former neighbor of raping her in 2000 when she was 10 years old and he was 14.”
Your numbers do not add up. If Coast is now 26, then she was approximately 13, not 10, in the year 2000.
mespo,
Exactly. Justice requires equity. An eye for an eye is only nominally about equity. It’s about revenge as well. However, one need not be vengeful to be equitable. This sentence is nothing like equitable. Still, I hope a civil suit is brought and Mr. Montgomery gets some measure of justice there.
Another thing that happens frequently is the misuse of the domestic violence laws. Many people, mostly women, use them as auxiliary divorce strategies. Wifey, usually, will pick a fight with hubby, even to the point of hitting him, and then when he strikes back, calls the cops. Then when he is hauled off to jail, and there is a temporary restraining order, she raids the house and/or stays there during the pendancy of the divorce, whether there are kids or not. I saw one where the wife packed up a lot of valuable stuff the husband had before marrying her, and took it off to another state in a flatbed trailer.
While this is supposedly addressable in divorce court, it often costs more to pay the lawyers to fight about it than what it is all usually worth. Not to mention the effect on the person who went to jail and now has a record. Sometimes, even the lawyers themselves will suggest this course of action to their prospective client.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter