SWEET DIANA DAWN P.

PALLER JD – II
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
RELECTION ON THE MOVIE “THE ACCUSED”

The movie entitled “The Accused” was all about a woman named Sarah Tobias who was
gang-raped by three men into a bar one night. Katherine Murphy, her Attorney, did her best not
only to convict and place the men who raped the victim behind bars, but she also aimed to go
after those men who cheered on while the felony was committed.

Under the law, there are elements to be considered for a crime committed, be considered as
rape. Under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, the elements of rape are as follows;

1. Rape is committed by a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under the
following circumstances;

a.    Through force, threat, or intimidation;

b.    When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious;

c.    By grave abuse of authority; and 

2. Committed by any person who shall commit an act of sexual assault by inserting his
penis into another person’s mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object, or into the genital
of another person.

If I am going to base all that had transpired to Sarah in this movie, it clearly showed that rape
was committed. Whatever the context of the situation was, rape is always rape and is always a
capital offense punishable by law.

Atty. Murphy did her best in investigating the felony committed. She, together with the victim
Sarah, filed a complaint against three men, who were accused to have gang-raped the victim.

While the trial for the rape case was going on, Atty. Murphy discovered something from Sarah’s
past; her being addicted to drugs, which she believed could be used against Sarah in the court
by the defense.

Based on my observation, it was one of the legal issues in the movie. Atty. Murphy failed to let
the victim testify for herself on the witness stand.

With her fear that Sarah’s past, being a drug addict, might affect them in winning the case, she
just let justice slip their hands and had given the chance for those three mean to plea for a
lesser offense; hence, reckless endangerment instead of rape – imprisonment for nine months
instead of for five years.

Unraveled by the court’s decision, Sarah confronted her lawyer, Atty. Murphy, for not letting her
testify in the court. On the other hand, Atty. Murphy wasn’t satisfied with the court’s verdict
against those three men and she decided to go after the other men whom she believed were
accessories to the crime.
She filed a case of criminal solicitation against these three other culprits who were cheering on
while the crime was committed. Atty. Murphy proved to the court that just like rape, persuading
others to commit a crime, is also punishable by law. Hence, a final verdict was given to these
men by the court. They were convicted of the crime charged them and thus, the rape case was
proved.

Meanwhile, if I am going to dig deeper into the moral issues of the movie, I have reflected that
Sarah, being the victim, has also made some provocative actions to be raped or to be sexually
assaulted during that night.

The manner she dressed and the manner she acted under the influence of alcohol, and drugs,
to say the least, were but contributing factors to why she was raped.

The lust of men, most often than not, doesn’t respect time or place, as the evil in man’s mind
has no conscience. Thus, women should behave and act morally upright to avoid certain
incidents like rape to happen.