Two women who knew Michael McClish testified Monday, June 25, that the Ben Lomond resident had pinned each of them to his bed but didn't do anything sexual in either incident. McClish isn't charged with any crimes related to those incidents. ...These two women were not claiming to be victims of sex crimes; they were just public witnesses participating in a character assassination. Their testimony should not have been even considered relevant to the case.
The Press-Banner has a policy against naming the reported victims of sex crimes and domestic violence. In this case, we also are not naming the reported victim's relatives, because that would point to her identity.
The rape case seems very weak:
In the second week of the trial, the victim testified that she had an 18-month affair with McClish, often meeting him for consensual sex at a location on Old County Road in Ben Lomond that they called "up top."Note that the paper calls the accuser a "victim", even thoough no crime has been proved.
One day she called McClish at home because of car trouble, she said. When he showed up and her car started, she said, they went to "up top." That was where he reportedly raped and sodomized her, dangled her off a cliff and threatened her with a hatchet.
Afterward, both returned to McClish’s house, and she didn't mention the incident to McClish's wife, she said. She also said she participated in family activities with the McClishes, including a trip to Disneyland after the alleged incident. Also after the incident, she said, she left her daughter with Melissa McClish for child care.
Here is the real reason for the prosecution:
She never reported the alleged incident to authorities. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office arrested McClish only after detectives, questioning market employees about the disappearance and killing of market cashier Joanna "Asha" Veil nine months ago, heard her story.You can figure that the case is bogus when you see stuff like this:
Also Monday, an expert on "intimate-partner battery" -- the present term for what used to be called battered-woman syndrome -- told the nine-man, three-woman jury that victims of sexual assaults often are unable to remember clearly what happened and frequently stay with their abusers.If they think that McClish is a murderer, then they should try him for murder. The rape charge is ridiculous. I don't believe that women goto Disneyland with their rapists, no matter what the so-called experts say.
Update (July 6): The verdict just came in:
After deliberating for just over two days, a jury of eight men and four women found Michael McClish guilty today of one count of rape, two counts of sodomy, assault with a deadly weapon and threatening the life of a woman he was having an affair with two years ago.Amazing. I don't see how the jury can reach that conclusion, unless they suspect him of killing Asha. Real rape victims just don't goto Disneyland with their rapists.
McClish, of Ben Lomond, was arrested in September and has been held in County Jail since his arrest. His bail remains at $1.5 million tonight.
He faces life in prison. Sentencing is set for August 3.
McClish had an 18-month affair with the woman, a 30-year-old Aptos resident he met when they both worked at the Ben Lomond Market. He hid the affair, one of four he had during his 9-year marriage, from his wife, Melissa McClish. She defended her husband in court, but has said she will divorce him.
The rape charges against McClish surfaced during the investigation of the killing of Joanna "Asha" Veil, a 28-year-old pregnant Ben Lomond Market employee who was found dead on Love Creek Road in mid-September.
17 comments:
You don't have to UNDERSTAND it, but you had sure better believe it, because it absolutely happens. I know it for a fact. You couldn't be more wrong in your views of this case, and if you knew the truth and saw first-hand the things Mike did to these girls, you would be ashamed of yourself.
How do you know it for a fact? Do you have some evidence that was not presented in court? If so, tell the judge, not me.
I WAS some of the evidence presented in court. I DID tell the judge. I'm only telling you too because you presume to know something about a matter that you have no involvement in. You are incorrect in your assumptions and in your defense of a violent rapist.
As the kids say, YOU GOT PWND
You needed to actually go to the trial and hear the testimony yourself- the papers overall did a poor job reporting what was presented- nine-tenths of the information never was published... it was NOT a "he said-she said" case/
I read the evidence, as reported, and it was extremely weak. If you have a link to stronger evidence that was presented at trial, then please post it so that we can all learn the facts.
I love how MEN propose to know how women "should act" after a rape. Hey man, after you're raped, then you can give us your story about how you acted afterwards. Otherwise, and until then, keep your biased assumptions to yourself. Asshole.
Mike was my next door neighbor. I hung out with him quite a bit. I remember this about him... he was strong. He used to walk my sister and I home from school everyday.
Now that he's been charged with double murder, do you still feel bad for the poor guy???
I hope this animal never sees the light of day again.
Do you ever wonder why you have so few comments on the rest of your blog? You remind me of the old joke about the difference between Dan Quayle and a jack-o-lantern--at least the jack-o-lantern has a light in its head!
This is so classic, so do you really think that just cause someone is accused of murder or rape, that it accually happened? False accusations do happen. Come on, a rape conviction with no physical or medical evidence? Reported over a year after allegedly happening? Possible but unlikely, definitelly not beyond reason of doubt, also his appeal looks pretty dam good. If your really involved in the trial like you say you were, get ready to go back to court.
Hearing for evidence in the Joanna Asha Veil murder is January 15th 2010
Asha was killed in Sept. 2006. You say that we are going to finally see the evidence in Jan. 2010? I do hope that they solve this crime, but I doubt it.
The prosecutor in the rape trial told the jury point blank that the other girls that he brought before them to testify against Mr. McClish did not know eachother. In fact most of them did. And they hung out together, and they hung out specifically with the accuser in this case. The jury was lied to. So sad.
I was just re-reading some blogs and articles on this case and came across your blog. I DO hope that now all has been said and done, that you are able to rethink your opinions on the original rape victim and how its possible that a woman may act strange after a rape, not report it and even continue to see her abuser. As a woman who has been sexually assaulted, I get it. I have been in an emotionally abusive relationships, where I didn't even realize that I WAS being abused at the time. I have been raped by a boyfriend and didn't report it out of fear that he would hurt me again. Coming from a family where I was allowed to be sexually abused as a child (twice) I did not know that sexual abuse was wrong, for a very long time. So anyway, one only has to look at the current news and see why so many women don't report rape. They are not supported to do so.
I also would like to point out that fathers rape their children well up in till they move out of the house. So these people are essnitally doing everything with their rapist for years. They go everywhere with their rapist. Just think about what your saying.
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