How Do Credibility Issues Affect Sex Crime Cases? Attorneys Christopher Combs and Joshua Boardman from Combs Waterkotte discuss everything you need to know about Illinois sex crime charges, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, rape, and more.
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Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: How do credibility issues affect sex crime cases?
Christopher Combs: I think it’s paramount.
Josh Boardman: Yes, I would say it’s one of the most important avenues in which cases are dismissed.
Combs: What I just said that, on the hundreds and hundreds of sex cases that Combs Waterkotte handles, we don’t see a ton of DNA evidence. The majority of these sex cases are allegations made by the alleged victim. So, unfortunately, in the state of Illinois, we don’t get the benefit of being able to take a deposition, a pretrial deposition. However, the truthfulness and the veracity of an allegation is critical in sex crimes cases. Sometimes that is the case. That is the entire case, the allegation and therefore the truthfulness and veracity of the allegation… I mean, that’s the entire case.
Boardman: You’re looking at questions that frequently come to mind. What is the context of the relationship? Has this person made allegations in the past that were considered unfounded? Would there be some benefit or gain for having these allegations sort of—
Combs: A motive.
Boardman: Was there a motive to having these allegations out in the stratosphere affecting somebody, for example, in a family law case or in a breakup scenario or something like that? Anything that I have said has come through the door at some point.
