Deborah Denno comments to the Huffington Post on one of the two Steubenville High School football players accused of raping a teenage girl who defended his innocence to ABC News’s “20/20,” after media coverage of the case caused a firestorm in the small Ohio town and on social media.
Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University in New York City, told The Huffington Post that it’s not unheard of for defense attorneys to agree to let their clients be interviewed if they feel it could serve to their advantage.
“Attorneys are always trying to appeal to the public in some way,” Denno said. “The media coverage is pretty damning, so it’s not a bad move for an attorney to want to try and correct, or try and soften, what might have happened that night. If the client is someone who comes across well, then that can also help.”
Denno argued that, despite all the negative attention the two defendants have encountered, the key issue at play in the trial will be whether the girl’s attorneys can prove that she did not consent, something that’s proven difficult in the past.
“The law is written in such a way that it can be a challenge for victims,” Denno said.”We’ve had a lot of cases with victims and drinking, and unless they’re out-cold unconscious, it can be challenging.”
Read the entire Huffington Post story.
