DOJ-OGR-00006273.jpg

Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 424-3 Filed 11/08/21 Page5of 29 Pathways to False Allegations 99 but not sufficient conditions for false allegations. There is no psychologi- cal diagnosis that alone could preclude the possibility that a sexual assault occurred. Rather, these generate rival plausible hypotheses that need to be evaluated to thoroughly evaluate all the possible candidates for explaining the allegation. That is, an investigation into a contested sexual assault charge is more complete and accurate when two overarching hypotheses are con- sidered: (a) This individual with psychological condition x was indeed sexually assaulted or (b) this individual with psychological condition x is making a false allegation due to condition x (x can be equal to 0). This is more complete than considering only one of these possibilities. Of course, when no relevant psychological condition is present, the second need not be considered. In addition, where there is overwhelming evidence (witnesses) that make condition (b) obviously false, then again, this condition need not be evaluated. Other methodologies such as lie detection (Gruben & Madsen, 2005) may be used to make assessments, but a review of these methods is beyond the scope of this paper. A person falsely convicted (or even accused) of an alleged crime will experience significant psychological, financial, and social consequences. Prevention of both false convictions and false acquittals should be the utmost priority in any sexual assault case. Considering the dearth of forensic research on causal mechanisms of false allegations by claimants, it appears that this work is needed to offset the bulk of forensic practice that is not guided by a model to understand how false allegations may be generated. We make no claim regarding the moral equivalency of a true allegation that is not believed versus a false allegation that is believed. Rather, we do suggest that minimizing both of these kinds of errors is a worthy goal. LEGAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE UNITED STATES It is no surprise that merely raising the issue of false allegations may evoke tension and unease in some; for some, this question is not politically cor- rect. To be sure, historically claims of sexual assault were handled relatively unfairly for the victims both legally and socially. In early America, many people looked upon rape perpetration as little more than a sexual misdeed on the level of premarital sex and as an unfortunate consequence of sexual desire (Block, 2006). Women’s claims of sexual assault were often unfairly doubted. In fact, pswedologia phantastica was the legally and scientifically acknowledged term used to describe a delusional state in which a woman falsely believed that she had been raped (Bessmer, 1984). Beginning in the 1960s, a public counteraction to the prevailing treat- ment of rape victims gained prominence, largely spurred by the feminist DOJ-OGR-00006273