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When Losing is Still a Win
This week an Alaska jury found a chiropractor not guilty on two counts of sexually abusing patients and couldn't reach a verdict on the other dozen charges. The pain and frustration of the women who testified about what happened to them at his hands is understandable.
What's remarkable—and what we should count as a win—is that the case went to trial.
Too often, under resourced prosecutors don’t feel confident enough to bring tough cases like these in front of a jury at all. Alaska is not alone in a long track record of charging lots of offenses that later get dropped. Sometimes that's for valid reasons, like evidence of innocence, witnesses who change their stories, or civil rights violations.
Other times it's because an office is short staffed, a prosecutor is worried about lowering their conviction rate, or the defendant seems sympathetic. Dropping cases for reasons like those—unrelated to justice—is the wrong way to go.
I need to be very clear: I wasn't in the courtroom during the recent case, so I don't know all the details. And crucially, elected officials like me should never decide who gets prosecuted and who doesn't. That's a fast track to the grave injustices of a banana republic.
But we should make sure that when law enforcement makes an arrest, and a professional prosecutor genuinely believes someone is guilty, that lawyer can bring the case to trial. Even if it isn't a 100% slam dunk.
That's expensive. And it carries with it the obligation to make sure the accused has access to a well-resourced lawyer to defend themselves. The government's power to punish carries with it the power to destroy reputations, livelihoods, and freedom. It has to come with strong safeguards for the accused.
In recent years, we've adjusted the law in important ways. In 2022, I worked with colleagues to broaden the definition of sexual assault to include not getting consent (previously it required force or the threat of force.) That should make it easier to hold people who commit these horrible assaults accountable.
The year after it passed, sexual assault prosecutions went down. That appears to have been a one-year fluke. But it explains why I've started keeping an eye on whether—for lack of a better phrase—the state is trying hard enough.
The prosecution last week was a good sign. Obviously it wasn't a slam dunk, but the district attorney took it to trial out of the genuine belief that the defendant harmed people. I can only imagine how heavy the burden is for survivors, who must carry their pain while waiting for justice that too often feels out of reach. How much farther out of reach would it be if the state hadn't made the effort?
I have no say in whether the DA's office tries again on the charges where the jury deadlocked. But I'll continue to work to make sure Alaska has the resources and laws to make that sort of decision based on justice, and not other factors.
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