Katharine Tellis

The Criminal Justice System’s Response to Sexual Violence

The legal reforms of the 1960s and 1970s notwithstanding, sexual assault is a crime characterized by underreporting and case attrition. In this article, the authors synthesize research examining the criminal justice system’s response to sexual assault. The authors begin by examining research on the victim’s decision to report the crime to the police. This is followed by a discussion of the findings of sexual assault case processing research, with a focus on the criminal justice system’s response to aggravated and simple rape and to intimate partner sexual violence. The authors end the article with a discussion of questions that research has yet to adequately answer.

Prosecuting Intimate Partner Sexual Assault Legal and Extra-Legal Factors That Influence Charging Decisions

Prosecutors play a crucial role in determining whether persons who are accused of intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA) will be sanctioned by the criminal justice system. Prosecutors have unconditional discretion at the initial charging stage because a case rejection decision is typically immune to review. Using qualitative data from 47 IPSA complaints that were referred to Los Angeles County or City prosecution in 2008, this study examines the factors that influence charging decisions. Findings suggest that prosecutors consider both legal and extralegal factors when making charging decisions and that various cultural, legal, and rape myths surrounding IPSA influence these decisions.

Condom use during sexual assault

This study examines questions about forced unprotected sex. Study objectives include assessing the prevalence of condom use in sexual assault and improving our understanding of the correlates of condom use in sexual assault. We analyze 841 sexual assault complaints reported to three law enforcement agencies. Descriptive data are used to assess the prevalence of condom use in sexual assault and to examine the contextual factors associated with condom use in sexual assault. We conduct logistic regression analysis to examine motivations for condom use during sexual assault. Condom use prevalence rates across the sites range from 11.7% to 15.6%. Few differences exist across jurisdictions regarding the correlates of condom use. Condom use during sexual assault appears to be motivated by three contextual factors. Younger suspects and suspects who use a weapon during assaults are more likely to use a condom. The suspects use of alcohol is negatively related to condom use. The low rates of condom use found in this study, coupled with the dangers of unprotected sexual contact, suggest that public health efforts must address the needs of victims of sexual assault more carefully.

The Truth Behind the Lies: The Complex Motivations for False Allegations of Sexual Assault

The issue of false allegations is arguably the most controversial topic in the area of sexual violence. Portrayals of women who make false allegations are largely negative and leave little room for a comprehensive understanding of the complex motivations behind false complaints of sexual assault. The current study uses detailed qualitative data on 55 sexual assault cases that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 and that were subsequently unfounded. Our study focuses on identifying the factors that motivated complainants to file false allegations. Results reveal that motivations for false allegations fall into five overlapping categories: avoiding trouble/providing an alibi, anger or revenge, attention seeking, mental illness, and guilt/remorse. In addition, our findings more obviously suggest that motivations for filing false reports are varied and complex, often resulting from a need to alleviate social and personal distress. Given that we centered our study on motivations, this research is more comprehensive than prior examinations of motivations that have tackled numerous facets of false sexual assault reports.

When the Bedroom Is the Crime Scene: To What Extent Does Johnson's Typology Account for Intimate Partner Sexual Assault?

Johnsons (2008) typology of domestic violence was conceptualized to explain the control context and presence of violence in intimate relationships. However, issues surrounding sexual assault in the context of intimate partner violence remain insufficiently addressed. The current study situates sexual assault within Johnsons (2008) typology because prior research has largely ignored it. Doing so is necessary to determine the utility of Johnsons categorizations. Using qualitative data from 134 intimate partner sexual assaults reported to Los Angeles law enforcement in 2008, the present study examines the control context and co-occurrence of physical and sexual assault, as well as the presence of non-physical coercive techniques, such as threats. Theoretical implications regarding the problems surrounding conceptualizing sexual assault vis-à-vis Johnsons categorizations are discussed.

Sexual Assault Case Outcomes: Disentangling the Overlapping Decisions of Police and Prosecutors

The rape reform movement of the 1970s and 1980s was designed to improve the likelihood of prosecution and conviction in sexual assault cases. However, there is evidence that the attrition rate for sexual assaults reported to the police remains high, and that the locus of case attrition is arresting and charging decisions. In this paper, we analyze police and prosecutorial decision-making in sexual assault cases using quantitative data on sexual assaults reported to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2008. We argue that decisions made by police and prosecutors should not be examined in isolation from one another and that researchers who analyze arrest decisions by examining only cases that are formally cleared by arrest or who focus only on charging decisions that follow the arrest of a suspect may be ignoring important aspects of police and prosecutorial decision-making. This is confirmed by the results of our study, which reveal that a significant proportion of cases in which the police appear to have probable cause to make an arrest do not result in the arrest of the suspect and that a substantial number of cases are rejected for prosecution by the district attorney before an arrest is made. Moreover, the factors that predict arrest and charging vary depending upon the way in which the outcome is operationally defined. These results have a number of important policy implications for police and prosecutors handling sexual assault cases.