Jonathan Kurland, a former prosecutor and current attorney advisor with AEquitas, said the best way to get better at trying rape cases is, simply, to try difficult rape cases — and dispel the myth that these cases require better proof than other crimes.
Prosecutors do have an ethical obligation to only take cases they believe will stand up in court. But Kurland says that assessment should be based on what an unbiased jury should do under the law — not what a jury might do, or what a biased jury would do, or what the last jury did.
“Even if the jury doesn’t return with the expected results or what’s believed to be the correct result, just [use] that opportunity to start educating not only the broader jury pools but the judges and defense attorneys in the system as well,” he said.
