Sexual battery trial set for Duval County man

A Jacksonville man accused of a heinous sex crime will be judged by a jury of his peers this coming August. According to a report on news4jax.com, the man is accused of raping a woman who was pushing her child in a stroller in Bartram Park in February. A warrant for sexual battery was issued for the man after his DNA was allegedly found on the woman after she was swabbed by a rape kit. The woman also identified the man after being shown his picture in a police lineup. The accused has a one million dollar bond for this Jacksonville sex charge.

When someone is arrested for a sexual battery, or any other sex charge in Duval County, they are going to get no bond or a bond so high it will be difficult to make. When arrested on a warrant, the judge who signed the warrant will usually attach a bond amount to the warrant. On rare occasions, the judge will leave the bond blank for the judge in first appearance court to set. No matter what the bond amount is, a Jacksonville bond attorney can motion the court to set a reasonable bond or reduce a high bond. There are two reasons to set monetary bonds in criminal cases. The first is if the person is a flight risk. If the accused does not live in Jacksonville, their appearance bond will be set higher. The second reason bonds are set high is if the judge deems the accused to be a danger to the community. When it comes to sex accusations, most judges will set a very high bond even though nothing has been proven in the case.

In the above case, the woman was examined and a rape kit was used. A medical exam is conducted which includes a whole body check, including documenting of any and all physical injuries and the collection of physical evidence. If the patient reports to law enforcement, the evidence is provided to the appropriate law enforcement agency to be used in criminal prosecution. If the patient chooses not to report, the evidence is stored by law enforcement for a period of time. The people who examine alleged victims only examine alleged victims. Their job is to conduct the examinations and to testify for the prosecution in criminal cases. As an experienced sex crime attorney, I have had many sexual battery cases that include these rape examination reports. Even if there is no physical injury, not even redness on the woman, the examiners will testify that “most of the time” there is no physical evidence in rape cases. And, they say, just because there is no physical evidence doesn’t mean there wasn’t an assault.

Often times in an alleged rape case, it is a he said, she said. Words matter. Physical evidence matters. If you are accused of a sex crime in Duval County or anywhere in Florida, you need to call an attorney who fights sex based cases on a regular basis.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Duval County Sexual Battery Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.