Comment from carrie
July 19, 2008, 8:45 am

I agree with the all or nothing comment. I would like to know which it is. If Ortiz did “force himself” on the victim, then it is another example of Burge going easy on abusers of women.

Comment from joycesup
July 19, 2008, 8:14 pm

Let me just say I followed on this case. When a woman says NO!!!!! and STOP!!!!!!! It means NO and STOP. It doesn’t mean for him to finish getting off. That is not sexual battery it is RAPE. I understand that a jury trial is different than a bench trial. At least the rapist was convicted the first time by 12 men/women jury. Just like the first comment I wonder how many men (women abusers) has Judge Burge let free on the streets to do the same crime again. And as for the man that said his comments in the courtroom and hallway. I think any man would do the same for the woman in there lives. I hope he has to do his time and not get credit time served. He served 1yr and 3 days in prison. NOT 17 months. I hope this boy can live with himself after what he has did.

Comment from tammy
July 25, 2008, 4:08 pm

As the victim of this crime i am astounded and shocked by the verdict..if a person borrows ur car a few times and u say yes, and then they ask u again, and u say no, and they take it anyway, take what they want..should they be charged with grand theft auto?? or its ok cause u said ok before??? well its the same with rape…if u say no, then that is what it means..NO..we bring up our children on the word no, so what judge burge is saying is that no does not mean no…thats its ok if u said yes before and that it confuses people when u say no later..well i dont care..when a woman says no, stop, ur hurting me, and he doesnt do any of that until he finishes, thats RAPE!!! i talked to the prosecutor on this before we went to trial..i asked if he had asked for a plea, and she said yes, his attorny asked for a lessor charge..and she said NO!…better to put the victim through all the misery and emotional turbulance of reliving the rape all over again, and mind u not the first time but to be raped, have to go thru the rape kit, then to tell countless legal people, then go to court, (after of course he gets his umpteen pre-trials)and tell ur side of what happened to a courtroom of strangers, find him guilty and sentence him, then find he gets an appeal, and u have to go thru the whole thing..again…it was like getting raped each time..i could go on and on, but what is done is done..and now i must live my life and try to help as many women out there as i can who have or have gone thru what i have..i WILL let the community know he is out there, i WILL work on getting a law passed stating that if a convited criminal gets an appeal based on not receiving a compentency hearing and he is found compentent at the time of the original trial and the time of the incident, that he NOT recieve another trial, the he goes back and finishes up his time..Eric Ortiz did rape me and made me his victim, however, im done being his victim, i am now a SURVIVOR!

Comment from Dan S.
July 25, 2008, 5:14 pm

“if a person borrows ur car a few times and u say yes, and then they ask u again, and u say no, and they take it anyway, take what they want..should they be charged with grand theft auto??”

When I was a cop, in a situation like that we’d use the charge of “unauthorized use.”

And while investigating a good many claims of “rape” (where the honesty of the victim would come into question) we’d use the code for unauthorized use, in front of the involved parties, when filling in other cops to the situation.

Believe it or not, some women cry rape to get even with someone they’ve had sex with before…

Unfortunately, some people get away with rape in court for numerous reasons. So, the judge and prosecutors might feel that their case isn’t strong and might go for the plea bargain to at least get the perpetrator off the street for a little while.

Comment from JZ
July 25, 2008, 8:27 pm

Years ago I interviewed a woman who claimed rape against a bar patron she waited on, she was the bartender. When I interviewed her at her home with her friend present the woman shook so bad she could barely write out her statement, cried alot, even went into the bathroom to puke before I could get her written statement. I left there convinced this guy raped her out back behind the bar. When it was all said and done it came out she was offering oral sex to other patrons, drunk on the job etc. The guy she accused passed a lie detector test at BCI which he voluntered for even without the advice of a lawyer. After it was all over I think she was so shocked and ashamed of her own behavior that this is what motivated her accusations, or she believed she was actually raped. I,m not comparing that case with this current one, but, judges are supposed to judge impartially. Just from what I read in the above article there would be some doubt about whether there was an actual rape as opposed to a lesser offense, which the judge ruled.

Comment from Super
July 26, 2008, 9:30 pm

I just want to make sure i am clear on this….to the comment from Dan S. your saying just because this Eric guy was able to get with the victim a few times and when he wanted it again and the victim said no and stop and he kept going. The justice system thinks that is sexual battery.
I am sorry. Regardless if they had sexual relationship if she says no then it means no. I can understand the unauthorized use of the vehicle but this is a human body we are talking about. I just wish we could understand the justice in this case.

Comment from Dan S.
July 26, 2008, 11:10 pm

“to the comment from Dan S. your saying just because this Eric guy was able to get with the victim a few times and when he wanted it again and the victim said no and stop and he kept going. The justice system thinks that is sexual battery.”

That’s not what I said or insinuated at all.

Comment from Super
July 27, 2008, 8:49 pm

Sorry Dan.S I was not insinuating that at all. I guess I am trying to understand. So please don’t take it personal. I am a upset citzen and was just venting. So again please don’t take it personal.

Comment from Dan S.
July 28, 2008, 2:52 pm

Don’t worry about it Super…

…I’m an opinionated pr**k with a thick skin.

But what I was trying to say, is that sometimes people take hot button issues then hit that freaking button for no good reason, other than to get their way and hose someone down.

Unfortunately, with some issues/topics the emotions take over and logic goes out the window as everything becomes black and white and sides are drawn.

You can usually identify these types of discussions when the words, “heartless bastard,” “your mother” and/or “racist pig” float to the surface.

Most times when someone uses the word “racist” too many people gasp, turn off their brain and automatically jump to the side using the offending word, so as to not be identified with the filthy racists. Life is much easier that way.

Same thing goes when a child is wheeled into court. Yeah, life is rough for that kid, but that doesn’t mean that just because someone has money to pay that they should pay, even if they aren’t responsible for that kid’s plight. But what the hey, you got a little kid going up against General Motors, the most sued entity on Earth. It doesn’t matter that the parent of that kid was drunk and smashed into the back of a semi, or maybe rolled over the kid in the driveway. Freaking GM, or some other poor fool must pay…

Comment from C.G
July 28, 2008, 3:19 pm

I have been fallowing the case from the start and after looking at the comments that where left behind i feel they are unfair first off the supposed victim in this case took a few days to even go to a rape crisis center to get help in most cases wemen who are raped( with me as well being a real rape victim) get help right away and not sit and take the time to make up there mind.The evidence that was perensented during the trial show one thing and one thing only and that is Mr.Eric was innosent of the charge(of rape) that was so wrongly placed on him from the start. A rape vicim who also stats that she is terrified of men after the ordeal (of rape) would not go after placing a innocent man prison and get married to another man(only after 4 months of him being in jail).The witness that where there for the so called victim couldn’t keep there story consistent with one another.Also the tape that was played by the prosecutor clearly showed that Mr.Eric did not say that he was sorry for rape but sorry that her and the man she was talking to at the time had problems and that he never raped her at all.At the time of this so called act she was 3 times bigger then him and she had ways of yelling or even fighting back but in the court room it was proven that no defense wounds was present nor yelling.I feel before people begin to juge this man they should really take a closer look at this case and to will see the truth and that is he never raped her and the judge was very fair in his ruling its just a shame that wemen like her can cause a man to miss out on things in his life that are inportant to him like his son(wich he is a great father) and family. Wemen like her should be placed in jail for as long as the innocent person who had to go and let them miss out on there lives then less wemen would claim they was raped when really they was not.It makes me sad as a rape victim to see a liar put a man who did not lie or rape her in jail it gives rape victims a bad name.

Comment from Jack Miller
July 28, 2008, 3:25 pm

DAN S. - “Most times when someone uses the word “racist” too many people gasp, turn off their brain and automatically jump to the side using the offending word, so as to not be identified with the filthy racists. Life is much easier that way.”

You get it. I thought you did. People in Western countries are so conditioned to react as they are told they’re supposed to. What you wrote above captures one way we are conditioned. Sadly, most of the populace, at least in public view, react in just that way.

Comment from tammy
July 29, 2008, 3:55 pm

to C.G….let me ask u..were u there??? were u there when i pleaded with him to stop?? no..u have the accused’s story..im glad u have followed the story from the beginning..however ur obviously very close to eric and biased and dont want to see his as being a RAPIST..and him being a wonderful father has nothing to do with me, or the case..and as far as me begin married?? it happened in 2005..i was married 2 days before 2008..maybe i should look into u for stalking purposes since u seem to know so much about me and my life..u dont…so dont make assumptions that u have no idea about..u obviously have written that comment to get a rise out of me and u have..ur right woment who cry rape should get in trouble..but im not one of those women…i didint go to tell anyone at first cause i was ashamed and embarrassed because of what he did to me..if u were raped as u say u were then u should understand what im saying..80%of women raped dont go to the police right away for the same emotional reasons..maybe u should think before u post…

Comment from Super
July 29, 2008, 11:18 pm

Sorry that you feel that way C.G. And I am sorry that you were a rape victim also. But can you remember how you felt after you were raped. I am sure that you do. You live with it everyday of your life. I guess what I am saying is that you were probably scared out of your mind after what the person did to you. Your pretty lucky that you were able to go to the police and the rape crisis center right away but some people are not like others. The bruise oh i am sorry the bite mark or what ever everybodywould like to call it was on her neck. And the pictures that were shown in the first trial and the second trial shown that there was some kind of sexual contact. Not the kind that was pleasureable. And has for her moving on in her life that is her business nobody else business. Also Eric said on stand when he was asked did you stop when she asked you too. his response was ” yeah I stopped when i cam, then I got off of her” So that tells me that he knew what he was doing. Also another thing they gave him that compentency test and it stated he knew what he was being charged with and that he understood what Rape meant. Mr eric also stated and his witnesses stated that he was Mentally challenged and that is IQ was under 70. Well there is nothing wrong with that because i work in a MR facility. Some of my residents are mildly retarded. I do know that the ones that have there parents/family in there lives, they do know from right and wrong. And the others well, we are teaching them. I do believe that he knows and he lost his better judgement that night because of his comment that i mentioned earlier in this comment. But this doesn’t excuse him for what he has done. As for the comment of her being 3x bigger than him well he’s not such a skinny minnie either. As for the tape he lied. In that tape he stated he would offer her money so she wouldn’t go to the cops. Then on the stand he said he never did. Yeah he wasn’t going to say sorry for Raping her because he wasn’t in his right mind that day on the phone because he was high. And he said that on the stand. So he himself couldn’t keep his story straight either. I have learned that everybody has their opinion about this case. Because it is a touchy case. So again C.G. sorry that you feel that way.

Comment from huntryss
July 30, 2008, 8:39 am

Tammy

If you are the victim of this crime, you have my deepest sympathies. Since the prosecutor is talking about appealing the case you probably should not talk about your experience here. I would refrain from speaking about this care until the appeal is done.

I applaud your efforts in seeing this through but think you should clear things with your attorney before you speak in a public forum.

This is not a put dow, just some friendly advise.. I have been where you are and understand the need to vent.

Comment from R.T
July 30, 2008, 10:07 pm

Tammy
I agree with huntryss ,please be careful.