Cops refuse to adequately investigate rape in Austin

Police in Austin prove they take sexual violence seriously by refusing to adequately investigate a rape report and pressing DWI charges against the complainant. After Virginia Glore specifically requested to have toxicology tests and DNA swabs performed to gather evidence that she had been given GHB and raped, the APD refused. Why? Because they did not believe that she had been raped and they thought she was trying to get out of the DWI charge. The Travis County attorney, Ken Oden, says She is raising the question of whether or not it was voluntary intoxication, which would be a defense if it can be proven in court … I don’t know what kind of proof would be brought forward. … But our job is to evaluate that evidence and our position is to look at each piece of evidence we can. Well, gee, not to be snide or anything, but all of this could have been determined if they had actually administered the toxicology screen when they were supposed to. The police finally took DNA swabs and photographed her injuries 11 days later, after Glore’s husband made a furious call to Internal Affairs, but by 11 days it was far too late to take the toxicology test that could have exonerated her on the DWI and slammed shut the case on the rape.

The police investigation also turned up two suspects based on the description given by the women. Both of them were convicted felons and one was a registered sex offender. The sex offender (Stefan Fiege) is still on the lam, and the other felon (Chris Turnrock) turned himself in. Turnrock gave a statement that they had been with the women that night, but that nothing had happened and he denied the alleged use of GHB. The police investigators decided that this was good enough to clear them of the charges. Proving that sensitivity on issues of sexual violence goes all the way to the top, APD Commander Duane McNeill puts it this way:

Everyone who says they were raped, weren’t [necessarily] raped, says McNeill. I know that one comes as a surprise. You know, things happen. Things like not getting home on time, or drinking and flirting, he said, are circumstances that might compel a person to fabricate a rape allegation. And in this case, McNeill insists, the APD investigators did a good job. I am perplexed by the outcry, he said. If ever there was a case that was done correct, it was this one.

They are still pressing the DWI charge against Glore. The callous, mean-spirited laziness of the police has deprived Virginia Glore of both the chance for justice in the rape case, and the chance to defend herself in the DWI case.

And people wonder why rape is underreported. Fuckers.

  • —Rad Geek

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5 replies to Cops refuse to adequately investigate rape in Austin Use a feed to Follow replies to this article

  1. S.R. Prozak /#

    Does this society seriously care about rape? I doubt it, given how much our advertising and business depend on selling sex as a commodity. But don’t let me stop the idiots in Austin from bitching about the small problems (assaults on women) and overlooking the big one (society is out of control, and no easy answers will save it).

    Follow Up

· September 2002 ·

  1. Charles W. Johnson /#

    Is S.R. Prozak right that a very large segment of society simply does not care about the epidemic levels of sexual violence in our society, and the ways in which it is linked to the commodification and exploitation of sexuality in patriarchal culture? Certainly.

    Is S.R. Prozak right that women in Austin are idiots for being pissed off about being viciously attacked and having the police turn on them with incompetant investigations and mean-spirited victim blaming? Or that the systematic sexual terrorism directed against women in our society is not a big problem compared to some abstraction vaguely waved at in the phrase “society is out of control?” I think that the 1 out of every 4 women who is subjected to sexual violence by men in this society will probably disagree.

    Follow Up

— 2003 —

  1. S.R. Prozak /#

    Your message is knowledgeable, and interesting to encounter now. There is always suffering, for us all unequally. “Society is out of control” means that the whole of it is bungled, and tackling little issues is divisive.

    When I said “…overlooking the big one (society is out of control, and no easy answers will save it).”

    I was expressing a belief that society is in the terminal stages. You know what I mean, grinding itself down with its own contradictions. It’s like a form of aging for a flabby creature. It’s sick and it’s hooked on the machine. So I hope you understand if I look ahead into the future and say it will be immolation of the social order as we know it, and whoever’s around then will welcome the subjugation.

    Also, there are too many people on the planet and rape trauma cuts down on breeding, which is good because every one now is three we’d have to smoke anyway later to preserve some semblance of a natural environment after the human onslaught.

    Really, 7 billion is out of control. How about a half-billion? More trees per capita, more open land and forest preserved, more wildlife. Less pollution. More death to the less than useful :)

    Now this doesn’t mean I don’t have some desire to do something about rape. I wish I could say something simple like KILL THE BASTARDS would be worth anything, because the causes of rape are many and some are related to cultural clashes in America. When you’ve got MTV, Hollywood and advertisers working on pornographic themes as a commonplace occurrence, here’s a hint:

    YOUR SOCIETY IS DEGENERATING ALL EMPIRES FALL

    The wisdom of the Universal Space Goat is such that we all simply fold up our arms and perish in the cold. But the wisdom of the here and now, sometimes called the monist “materialist” reality, is that we all die, all things are limited, and there is a point in making actions intentional.

    Sympathy to rape victims - yes. Death to rapists - mostly. Death to most people - yes.

    Follow Up

  2. Dawn /#

    Wow! It’s interesting to hear I’m not the only rape victim they refused to do a GHB test on.

    I have been attempting to come to terms with the fact that I know who raped me, I know I was drugged (for God’s sake- he insisted on me drinking a cup of tea and the next morning I couldn’t remember anything after that point and had obviously been forced into some sort of sexual intercourse). I told the police who I believed it was. I was shamed at the Catholic hospital they took me to for the rape analysis and asked by the doctor if I wanted to CONFESS. They refused to do a GHB test. They hardly bothered to ask the suspect more than a basic “Did you do it?”

    So where do I go from here? Just forget about it? Just let him continue to rape women and get away with it? That’s what the police seem to be telling me.

    It’s not the only time the APD screwed me over. I asked for their help when my roomate was threatening me, putting bathroom cleaner in my contact lense solution (it ate through the lenses) and cutting the wires in my answering machine and the office simply shrugged his shoulders and said “Lady, there are people who have killed people and we know who they are and still can’t do anything about it.” I mean, what kind of attitude is that? Doesn’t that show them that they must be doing SOMETHING wrong and should fix it?

    Ugh! The incompetence is sickening and when I get the time I plan on finding out how many cases there are like mine and the case above and filing a class action suit against the incompetence of the APD. Doctors have to account for ruining peoples lives through incompetence, so should police departments. Afterall, aren’t they responsible for our safety?

    Follow Up

— 2006 —

  1. billy /#

    If everyone is mad at things like this change the law and the way things are done. If you feel clit snatched and mad change things. Punishment is to easy on criminals. Time in jail feed, clothes, houseing, madical care and education are things provided to people who commit crime. I don’t know about you but this don’t sound to bad to most people or there wouldn’t be so much crime. Now watch this posting and you will see how so many people are bleed hearts to criminals. Change the law like this. If someone robs have his hand cut off, If someone shots another he will be shot, If someone kills another he will be killed no waiting and proof that clearly shows he did it, If you rape someone you have your organ removed this varies punishment for women ” you can’t chop their organ off”. But you follow me. I guarentee people will quit their shit once a few killings and choppings happen. Now go change the law for the better. Stop hesitating!

    Follow Up

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