Consent, Capacity to Consent, and Coercion: Prosecutorial Insights from I May Destroy You

Consent, Capacity to Consent, and Coercion: Prosecutorial Insights from I May Destroy You

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Jon Kurland examines I May Destroy You, Michaela Cole’s unflinching portrayal of alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, involuntary intoxication, and rape. Drawing on Jon’s decades of prosecutorial experience, they break down how the law defines consent and how intoxication—voluntary or involuntary—impacts consent.   They explore the investigative challenges presented by memory gaps, how prosecutors handle cases where the victim may have only partial recall of the assault, how prosecutors work with or prepare to cross-examine toxicologists and other experts, and the importance of explaining victim behavior to fact-finders without reinforcing harmful stereotypes. The conversation also highlights how sexual assault against male victims is minimized or misunderstood, and what prosecutors can do to ensure all victims receive a trauma-informed and just response. We discuss what I May Destroy You gets right about disclosure, offender behavior, and the communication of consent—and what practitioners can learn from it to strengthen investigations, improve courtroom practice, and advance justice for all sexual violence survivors. For more information: * Where to watch the HBO Limited Series I May Destroy You is available here [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/i-may-destroy-you/a15b4064-4899-4381-bdf1-676986137ee1]. * Prosecuting Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault [https://web.archive.org/web/20141107104956/http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/pub_prosecuting_alcohol_facilitated_sexual_assault.pdf], authored by the late Teresa P. Scalzo, Esq. [https://ovc.ojp.gov/gallery/award-recipients/2017/teresa-p-scalzo] (1969-2016), was one of the first comprehensive publications to offer strategies in these complex cases; this expert resource remains relevant today.  * Visit AEquitasResource.org [http://aequitasresource.org] to access The ABCs of BAC: Toxicology for Prosecutors and Investigators [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA2FCwr_b8k] and the expert publication “Stop it: Now”: Charging Considerations in the Prosecution of Rape Following a Revocation of Consent [https://aequitasresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Charging-Considerations-for-the-Prosecution-of-Rape-Following-a-Revocation-of-Consent.pdf].  * Senior Attorney Advisor, Jonathan Kurland’s bio can be found here [https://aequitasresource.org/about-us/]. This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org/], RAINN [https://rainn.org/], and The National Trafficking Hotline [https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/report-trafficking] If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: info@aequitasresource.org. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

Understanding Stalking Through an Examination of the Netflix Series You: A Prosecutor’s Approach

Assistant State Attorney and Intimate Partner Violence Specialist Kristina Mills joins to examine the Netflix series You and its portrayal of stalking behaviors, including surveillance, life invasion, intimidation, and interference. Using the first episode as a case study, they highlight why stalking behaviors are often minimized or dismissed as “romantic gestures”. Through You’s depiction of Joe’s method of victim selection, incessant victim blaming, creepy invasion of Beck’s privacy, and methodically orchestrated “surprise” appearances, audiences begin to understand the danger and distress stalkers pose to their victims.      Kristina breaks down strategies prosecutors use to identify lethality indicators in victim reports, and explains to factfinders how stalkers abuse positive behaviors like listening and offering support or assistance to obtain information about the victims, which they then use to control or surveil them.  She also shares practical strategies for building stalking cases: reconstructing timelines, spotting intent in digital evidence, documenting repeated conduct, and using motions in limine and other-acts evidence to show a pattern of control. This conversation shines a light on the realities of stalking—and the legal tools available to hold offenders accountable and keep victims safe. For more information: * The Netfix series You [https://www.netflix.com/title/80211991] served as a case study in stalking behaviors for this episode. * Assistant State Attorney and Intimate Partner Violence Specialist Kristina Mills’ bio is available at Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/].  * Please visit AEquitasResource.org [http://aequitasresource.org] to find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance including AEquitas’ Prosecutor’s’ Guide to Stalking [https://www.stalkingawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SPA-19.005-Prosecutors-Guide-to-Stalking-00000002-revised.pdf]. * Expert Resources on Stalking, including a Discussion Guide [https://www.stalkingawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/SPARC-YOU-Season-1-5-Recap-Discussion-Guide.pdf]for the entire You series are available at Stalking Prevention and Awareness Center (SPARC) [https://www.stalkingawareness.org], a project of AEquitas. This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org/], RAINN [https://rainn.org/], and The National Trafficking Hotline [https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/report-trafficking] If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: info@aequitasresource.org. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

Unbelievable & I Am Evidence: Exposing Serial Rapists, Reopening Cold Cases, and Repairing the Damage of Delayed Justice

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Patti Powers and Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Van examine two powerful productions—Unbelievable and I Am Evidence—and examine what they reveal about serial rapists, untested rape kits, and the consequences of delayed justice. Drawing from decades of prosecutorial and appellate experience, Patti and Dan break down the strategies needed to reopen cold cases, rebuild thin or incomplete files, and secure convictions years after a crime. Together, they explore trauma-informed approaches to re-engaging victims, how forensic science and CODIS hits reshape investigations, and why understanding offender behavior—including stalking, surveillance, and pattern variation—is essential to proving serial rape. They discuss charging decisions, using other-acts evidence, litigating Rule 404(b), preserving DNA, and strengthening the record for appeal. This episode shows how prosecutors can turn old files and untested kits into powerful cases—and what it takes to hold serial rapists accountable long after the system failed to act. For more information: * Where to watch the Limited Series Unbelievable is available here [https://www.netflix.com/title/80153467]. * Unbelievable was based on the book A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America [https://www.amazon.com/False-Report-True-Story-America/dp/1524759937] by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. This book followed the authors’ investigative reporting  An UnBelieveable Story of Rape [https://www.propublica.org/article/false-rape-accusations-an-unbelievable-story], copublished by Pro Publica and The Marshall Project, for which they won a Pulitzer Prize [https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/t-christian-miller-propublica-and-ken-armstrong-marshall-project].   * Senior Attorney Advisor, Patti Power’s Bio is available here [https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/respected-passionate-successful-criminal-prosecutor-patti-powers-retires/article_778f029c-3359-11e5-afa8-93d1d08262fe.html].  * The bio for Daniel Van, Assistant Supervisor Appeals Unit of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office is available on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/].  * Please visit AEquitasResource.org [http://aequitasresource.org] to find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance and visit theRSVP.org [http://thersvp.org] for the Model Response to Sexual Violence for Prosecutors. In addition, this episode references CODIS, which stands for Combined DNA Index System. You can find information on CODIS at : https://le.fbi.gov/science-and-lab/biometrics-and-fingerprints/codis-2 [https://le.fbi.gov/science-and-lab/biometrics-and-fingerprints/codis-2].  * Additional AEquitas resources on the prosecution of cold case sexual assaults can be found at the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative website [https://sakitta.org/toolkit/index.cfm?fuseaction=category-tools-list&cat=6]. This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org/], RAINN [https://rainn.org/], and The National Trafficking Hotline. [https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/report-trafficking] If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: AEquitasResource.org⁠ [http://aequitasresource.org] or email us at: info@aequitasresource.org. [info@aequitasresource.org.] Follow AEquitas on Instagram at @aequitas_resource.

Violence Against Sexually Exploited Women and Girls: Prosecuting the Brutality Chronicled in the GEMS Documentary Very Young Girls

Jon Junig of the New York County District Attorney’s Office joins to examine the 2007 documentary Very Young Girls, which exposed the recruitment and extreme violence inflicted on sexually exploited women and girls in New York City and highlighted the critical, multidisciplinary support survivors need to heal and exit exploitation through the work of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), a longstanding NYC nonprofit. Their discussion explores the legal strategies prosecutors must use to expose the full scope of exploiters’ abuse, including beatings, rape, nonphysical coercion, and emotional manipulation and the importance of partnering with multidisciplinary professionals to support victims and strengthen case. They also address common defense tactics that seek to blame or discredit victims or minimize the violence they endured. Jon offers concrete strategies for countering harmful narratives about “choice,” preparing fact-finders to understand coping behaviors often mislabeled as “counterintuitive,” and using expert testimony to contextualize delayed disclosure, flat affect, and a victim’s return to a trafficker. The conversation also highlights evidence-based prosecution practices—building cases that do not over-rely on victim testimony, litigating motions to limit prejudicial attacks on credibility, and reframing victim behavior through a trauma-informed lens rather than one of blame. Together, they underscore the legal tools—and the courtroom persistence—required to hold accountable those who inflict violence on sexually exploited women and girls. For more information: * Where to watch the Documentary Very Young Girls is available here [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1097268/] and at at https://www.gems-girls.org/ [https://www.gems-girls.org/].  * Please visit AEquitasResource.org [http://aequitasresource.org] and JustExits.org [http://justexits.org] where you can read about the strategies to enhance the prosecution of violence against the sexually exploited here [https://aequitasresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Enhancing-Prosecutions-of-Human-Trafficking.pdf] and find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance.

Behind Closed Doors: Prosecuting Intimate Partner Sexual Violence in Big Little Lies

Longtime prosecutor and District Attorney Ric Hertel takes a deep look at Big Little Lies and its depiction of intimate partner sexual assault. Drawing from nearly three decades in the courtroom, Ric examines the realities behind marital rape, coercive control, strangulation, and the escalating violence portrayed in the series. Together, Jennifer and Ric explore why disclosures often unfold slowly, how offenders use fear and manipulation to maintain control, and why victims may love—and fear—their abusers at the same time. They discuss strategies for overcoming consent defenses, using other acts evidence, identifying lethality risks, and protecting victims and children throughout the process. This conversation offers a candid look at how prosecutors build trust with survivors, prepare complex cases, and pursue justice in crimes that happen behind closed doors—and why these cases remain among the most misunderstood and critically important to address. For more information: * Guidance on where to watch the HBO Limited Series Big Little Lies can be found here [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/big-little-lies/1fbc488d-c7b5-4d38-aad4-f60dcbd85d23]. * The bio for Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel can be found here [https://www.in.gov/ipac/find-your-prosecutor/ripley-county-prosecutor-richard-j-ric-hertel/#:~:text=Richard%20J.,Hertel%20performed%20criminal%20defense%20work.] and on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com]. * Please visit AEquitasResource.org [http://aequitasresource.org] and theRSVP.org [http://thersvp.org] for on-demand trainings, articles, and expert assistance on the prosecution of intimate partner sexual assault, including Under the Radar: Prosecuting Intimate Partner Sexual Assault [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lnFXQAphfI]. This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org/], RAINN [https://rainn.org/], and The National Trafficking Hotline [https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/report-trafficking] If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: info@aequitasresource.org. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource