EXPERTS WARN OF ALCOHOL AS DATE-RAPE DRUG

Victim's inebriation makes prosecution more difficult; 'Hardest cases we have'

The Towson University student had turned 21 that day and was out to celebrate.

She went to a bar with friends and with their encouragement, she said,
drank eight shots of liquor in a little more than an hour.

But police said later that night, the woman became the victim of a type of
assault that is often not reported and difficult to prosecute.

A 29-year-old acquaintance returned with the woman to her apartment the
night of Oct. 11, 1999, then assaulted her after she passed out, according
to Baltimore County Circuit Court records. He was charged with
second-degree rape but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

While "date-rape drugs" -- prescription medications slipped into a woman's
drink to incapacitate her -- have gained widespread publicity, experts say
that alcohol is still the most common substance used in such incidents.

"Alcohol is definitely the No. 1 date-rape drug," said Jessica Cavey,
education coordinator at Turn Around Inc., a rape counseling center that
works with sexual assault victims at Towson-area hospitals.

Experts emphasize that victims of acquaintance rape are not to blame for
the attack -- whether they've been drinking or not.

"It doesn't matter what you wear and it doesn't matter how much you drink.
If a guy's going to rape you, he's made that decision, and you didn't
choose to be a victim," Cavey said.

But prosecutors say when charges are filed, the cases can be difficult to
prosecute.

For a conviction, jurors must decide that they believe a victim -- whose
memory might be clouded by alcohol -- over the word of a defendant who
knows the victim and can claim the sex was consensual.

"They're probably the hardest cases we have, and the flip side is that
they're really traumatic for the victim," said Assistant State's Attorney
Jill Savage, who is assigned to Baltimore County's sexual assault unit.

In the case of the Towson University student, prosecutors accepted Darric
Boyd's plea to second-degree assault Oct. 26, cutting short a four-day jury
trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Boyd, 29, of Catonsville agreed to the plea after he argued during the
trial that the sex was consensual. In addition, submitted evidence included
a medical report that contradicted the victim's testimony about her degree
of intoxication.

Boyd was sentenced to 200 hours of community service as part of the plea
agreement.

"I just wanted him held accountable," said Assistant State's Attorney James
O. Gentry, who prosecuted Boyd.

Similar cases are pending in Maryland courts.

Assistant State's Attorney John Cox, who is head of the Baltimore County
state's attorney's sexual assault unit, is prosecuting a mechanic based at
Aberdeen Proving Ground. The man is accused of raping a female soldier in
June when she passed out in her White Marsh hotel room after they spent a
night drinking together.

The trial for Omar Flemings, 23, of Edgewood is tentatively scheduled for
Nov. 28.

Three Naval Academy football players have been charged with raping a female
midshipman in June at an off-campus party where police said there was heavy
drinking.

Police say the victim was assaulted while she was unconscious in the
bedroom of a home in Arnold, outside Annapolis.

Last month, 250 students rallied at University of Maryland, College Park to
voice alarm over a series of date rapes at the campus. Four sexual assaults
- -- each involving victims who knew their assailants -- have been reported
to campus police since the fall semester started in August.

"We'll do everything we can to turn this around," University President C.
D. Mote Jr. told the students.

Police departments report the number of rapes that occur each year, but
they do not break down the number of rapes committed by those who knew
their victims, or those cases in which alcohol was a factor.

Scott Rouch, community services supervisor for the Towson University
police, said that recent surveys on college campuses nationwide estimate
that 5 percent of sexual assaults are reported to police.

"Sexual offenses have always been one of the least reported of crimes,"
Rouch said.

Cavey and other experts agreed, saying that victims are often reluctant to
report rapes or other sexual assaults because they worry about their
credibility or they want to avoid recounting the experience to police and
to a jury.

"You can be victimized all over again," Cavey said.

College police departments say they do what they can to prevent rapes on
campus.

At University of Maryland, College Park, campus police offer 24-hour
escorts, a shuttle bus service to dormitories, emergency phones and classes
on security for the school's 33,000 students.

But Capt. Don Smith, a spokesman for the university's police department,
said security measures will not help once a rapist is alone with a woman in
a dormitory or apartment.

"Once two people have gotten into a room together, the locks and all the
security are no longer a factor," he said.