Netflix
Huge Dan’s Rape Case
One of the crucial disturbing episodes of Netflix’s new collection Trial by Media is the episode titled “Huge Dan’s,” which examines the trial of the 4 males who raped a girl on a bar’s pool desk whereas different patrons watched. The trial was televised reside on CNN, which gave the girl no anonymity and laid naked the brutal cross-examination she endured.
Here’s what you could find out about Cheryl. Araujo and what occurred to her after that horrible tragedy.
Araujo Was Gang-Raped at Huge Dan’s Bar
In 1983, 21-year-old Cheryl Araujo was gang-raped by 4 males on a pool desk in Huge Dan’s bar in New Bedford, Massachusets, whereas three different folks had been within the bar — the bartender, drunk asleep within the nook, and a patron who tried to name the police, in accordance with the New York Instances. Finally, Araujo fought them off and bumped into the road the place three school college students driving by stopped and picked her up, taking her to the close by hospital.
Six males had been charged in reference to the rape: John Cordeiro, Victor Raposo, Daniel Silva, and Joseph Vieira had been charged with aggravated rape, whereas Virgilio Medeiros and Jose Medeiros (no relation) had been charged with encouraging an unlawful act and never appearing to cease it, which known as “joint enterprise.”
Araujo’s preliminary account of the rape was that she heard folks cheering, one thing one of many accused later admitted on the witness stand that he had achieved, shouting, “Go for it! Go for it!”
However the disparity between what Araujo remembered and what the accused stated occurred fed into the concept that Araujo was confused and partially responsible for her assault. This trial grew to become a template for the “blaming the sufferer” line of questioning, significantly after her brutal cross-examination, which aired reside on TV.
The 2 totally different units of defendants had been tried in several trials. The 4 defendants charged with aggravated rape had been convicted, although none served longer than six and a half years in jail. The 2 charged with joint enterprise had been acquitted.
Araujo Died Two Years After the Trial
Following the trial, Araujo fled New Bedford for Miami, Florida, together with her two daughters and their father. However in 1986, when she was simply 25 years outdated, Araujo misplaced management of her automotive and was killed within the crash. Her daughters had been injured however survived. It later got here to mild that she was severely intoxicated on the time of the crash and had been scuffling with alcohol abuse for the reason that trial ended, in accordance with the Washington Publish.
Two years after Araujo’s demise, Jodie Foster received her first Academy Award for her portrayal of a girl loosely primarily based on Araujo and the assault. Kelly McGillis performed the prosecutor within the movie and through press interviews for the film, revealed she too was a rape survivor.
McGillis stated she was truly provided the position of the sufferer within the movie, however turned it down “as a result of I’ve been a sufferer in actual life and had no must re-create it on display screen,” she instructed Individuals, recounting her 1982 assault and rape by two males in New York Metropolis.
“That 20 minutes of my life appeared to final 20 years. In a second of disaster, there is part of your mind that takes over and also you grow to be unemotional and indifferent. … I’ve by no means identified who referred to as the police, however I thank God day by day that they did as a result of it saved my life,” stated McGillis.
“For a very long time, I wished to withdraw from the world. I continued to go to high school, however I grew to become far more of a loner and far more alone. I couldn’t go down into the subway with out getting nauseous and gagging as a result of the odor jogged my memory of the lads who had raped me. I didn’t wish to go away my little residence. I might grow to be so overwhelmed with nervousness and grief that I might simply begin crying. I gained about 30 lbs. I had nightmares. As a result of I used to be so afraid to fall asleep at night time, I might drink, and it received progressively worse. It was like having slightly demon inside consuming me up. … If it had not been for the understanding of my pals and academics at Juilliard, I most likely would have killed myself.”
The lads whom McGillis recognized as her rapists had been arrested inside a month of the crime. The extra vicious of the 2 attackers was a 15-year-old who lived two blocks from McGillis. He served greater than three years. The opposite alleged attacker was not convicted as a result of the proof didn’t incriminate him.
Trial By Media is out now on Netflix.
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