Two long-running campus rape cases were recently dropped by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.
The high-profile cases involving a fraternity member at Georgia Tech and three basketball players at Morehouse College had lingered for more than two years. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution learned about Howard’s decision not to prosecute the cases last week.
What took so long to make the decision: the complicated issue of consent.
“These cases with drugs and alcohol are very difficult for us to reach conclusions,” Howard said. In each instance, Howard said, the victim was conscious, communicating with those around her, but afterward said she could not recall what happened.
The AJC has been reporting extensively on campus rapes in Georgia, including these two cases. In 2014, an AJC investigation found that while there had been 152 allegations of rape at nine of Georgia’s largest colleges and universities, not a single one had led to a criminal prosecution.
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