Commonwealth v. Ibn-Bashir
Apr 19, 2017OUTCOME: Client Found Not Guilty of Indecent Assault
Client's leg touched restaurant coworker's butt when he allegedly tried to kiss her from behind. Notwithstanding that that they had been sharing sexual banter for months, she had responded yes to his r ... equest earlier in the day to have intercourse with him (jokingly she said), and referred to him as her "husband" regularly to coworkers, girl was surprised when client tried to kiss her at the end of their shift. Incident lasted less than 10 seconds and client backed away with hands in the air when she said "get the F off of me." He told her "I thought you were okay with this because of what you said earlier." Her response, "You know we all joke around and knew I was kidding." The facts I just related are her version of the story....The scariest part of this trial was that had he been convicted, my client would have had to register as a sex offender for 15 years. (Back to the indecent contact which would have been the leg on the butt for purposes of arousal). It was an absurd case but terrifying because the stakes were so high for him. My client is black, has a distinctly middle-eastern sounding name, and was twenty years older than the girl. Her position at trial (revealed only after some vigorous cross examination and some faux drama) was that no matter what she said or how she acted, my client should have known he never had a shot with her. Words matter, actions matter, people matter. I am glad the jury saw the situation for what it was and found my client not guilty.
