Abstract
Initial press reports of the event shocked the nation.1 According to the police, a woman had been raped by several men in a New Bedford, Massachusetts tavern, Big Dan’s, while onlookers cheered. The woman, a 21-year-old mother of two, had reportedly gone into Big Dan’s to buy cigarettes. After having a drink, the woman tried to leave, but instead, a number of men dragged her to the pool table, stripped her, and raped her or forced her to engage in other sexual acts, while others watched and shouted “go for it!”
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Notes
Our account of the Big Dan rape trial is based on the excellent coverage of the trial by the Boston Globe over the time period February 5, 1984 to April 8, 1984. See especially notes 2–10 and stories by J. Kaufman: Men outnumbering women two-to-one as potential jurors in Big Dan rape case (February 15, pp. 23, 27); Big Dan trial on hold (February 23, p. 18); Big Dan’s bartender on witness stand (March 1, pp. 17, 23); Silva takes stand in Big Dan’s trial (March 15, pp. 19, 24).
Goodman, E. (1984, March 8). Crimes of uninvolvement. Boston Globe, p. 19.
Kaufman, J. (1984, February 29). Woman sticks to story in Big Dan’s rape trial. Boston Globe, pp. 17, 20.
Kaufman, J. (1984, March 11). Chilling effect of Big Dan’s trial cited. Boston Globe, p. 33.
Kaufman, J. (1984, March 18). Two convicted in Big Dan’s rape. Boston Globe, pp. 1, 26. See also: Minsky, T. (1984, March 18). Shouts, pushing after verdict. Boston Globe, pp. 1, 26.
Kaufman, J. (1984, March 19). Big Dan’s security problem. Boston Globe, p. 17.
Minsky, T. (1984, March 20). “Don’t speak out” warning at Big Dan’s trial. Boston Globe, p. 20.
Kaufman, J. (1984, March 20). Cordeiro gives his version. Boston Globe, pp. 17, 20. Quote is from p. 20.
Minsky, T. (1984, March 24). Thousands protest guilty verdicts. Boston Globe, pp. 1, 18. Quotes are from p. 18.
Kaufman, J. (1984, March 23). Two more guilty, two acquitted in 2nd Big Dan’s trial. Boston Globe, pp. 1, 10.
Lipsey, D. (1982). Send rapists to jail—The public’s verdict. The Sunday Times.
Blumstein, A., and Cohen, J. (1980). Sentencing of convicted offenders: An analysis of the public’s view. Law and Society Review, 14, 223–261. Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and support for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217–230.
Burt (1980).
LaFree, G. D., Reskin, B. F., and Visher, C. A. (1985). Jurors’ responses to victims’ behavior and legal issues in sexual assault trials. Social Problems, 32, 389–404.
Hans, V. P., and Brooks, N. (1977). Effects of corroboration instructions in a rape case on experimental juries. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 15, 701–716.
Lear, M. W. (1972, January 30). Q: If you rape a woman and steal her TV, what can they get you for in New York? A: Stealing the TV. The New York Times Magazine.
Starr, M., with King, P. (1985, May 20). Who is the real victim? Newsweek, pp. 69–70, 73.
Press, A., with others. (1985, May 20). Rape and the law. Newsweek, pp. 60–64. Estrich’s quote is from pp. 60–61.
Camp v. State (1847) 3 Ga. (3 Kelly) 417, 422.
State v. Wood 59 Ariz. 48, 49–50, 122 P. 2d 416, 418.
The account is from Strick, A. (1977). Injustice for All. New York: Penguin. Quote is from p. 48.
Borgida, E. (1981). Legal reform of rape laws. In L. Bickman (Ed.) Applied Social Psychology Annual, Vol. 2 (pp. 211–241). Beverly Hills: Sage.
Kalven, H., and Zeisel, H. (1966). The American Jury. Boston: Little, Brown, p. 250,
Ibid., p. 251.
Levine, J. P. (1983a). Using jury verdict forecasts in criminal defense strategy. Judicature, 66, 448–461. See also Levine, J. P. (1983b). Jury toughness: The impact of conservatism on criminal court verdicts. Crime and Delinquency, 29, 71–87. 26 Deitz, S. R., Blackwell, K. T., Daley, P.C., and Bentley, B. J. (1982). Measurement of empathy toward rape victims and rapists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 372–384.
Hans, V. P. (1982, June). Gentlewomen of the jury. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Toronto.
Hagan, J. (1974). Extra-legal attributes and criminal sentencing: An assessment of a sociological viewpoint. Law and Society Review, 7, 357–383. For a compelling account of the public climate surrounding interracial rape, see Carter, D. T. (1979). Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South (rev. ed.). Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press.
Criminal Victimization in the United States. (1977). Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Department of Justice. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Feild’s work is described in: Feild, H. S. (1979). Rape trials and jurors’ decisions: A psy-cholegal analysis of the effects of victim, defendant, and case characteristics. Law and Human Behavior, 3, 261–284. Feild, H. S., and Bienen, L. B. (1980). Jurors and Rape. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Feild, H. S. (1978). Juror background characteristics and attitudes toward rape: Correlates of jurors’ decisions in rape trials. Law and Human Behavior, 2, 73–93.
McCahill, T. W., Meyer, L. C, and Fischman, A. M. (1979). The Aftermath of Rape. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
LaFree et al. (1983).
Loh, W. (1981). Q: What has reform of rape legislation wrought? A: Truth in criminal labelling. Journal of Social Issues, 37, 28–52. Loh’s data included both judge and jury verdicts. For other accounts of rape law reform projects, see Sallmann, P. A., and Chappell, D. (1982). Rape law reform in South Australia. A study of the background to the Reforms of 1975 and 1976 and of their subsequent impact. Adelaide Law Review Research Paper No. 3. Adelaide: University of Adelaide. Chappell, D. (1982, November). The impact of rape reform legislation: Some comparative trends. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Toronto.
Marsh, J. C, Geist, A., and Caplan, N. (1982). Rape and the Limits of Law Reform. Boston: Auburn House Publishing Co.
Ibid., p. 56.
Ibid., pp. 56–57.
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© 1986 Valerie P. Hans and Neil Vidmar
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Hans, V.P., Vidmar, N. (1986). Jurors’ Views of Rape: Anger and Ambivalence. In: Judging the Jury. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6463-2_13
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