"JUDGE LACAVA SAID JAMA'S ATTACK ON THE UNWELL WOMAN WAS OFFENSIVE, REPUGNANT AND INTOLERABLE TO SOCIETY.
"YOU RAPED HER WHEN SHE WAS IN A MOST VULNERABLE STATE," HE SAID.
"YOU OBVIOUSLY SAW HER AND SIZED UP THE SITUATION. INSTEAD OF ASSISTING HER . . . YOU RAPED HER FOR YOUR OWN IMMEDIATE AND SHORT-LIVED SEXUAL GRATIFICATION."
JUDGE LACAVA SAID HE WAS GUARDED ABOUT JAMA'S CHANCES OF REHABILITATION DESPITE HIS YOUTH BECAUSE HE HAD SHOWN NO REMORSE.
HE JAILED JAMA FOR SIX YEARS WITH A NON-PAROLE TERM OF FOUR YEARS.""
REPORTER KATIE BICE; THE SUN HERALD; PHOTO: (ON LEFT); WITH LAWYER KIMANI BODEN); TAKEN BY ANDREW TAUBER;
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BACKGROUND: According to the Australian, Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a 40-year-old woman at a nightclub in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs after the victim was found unconscious. She had no memory of the crime but Mr Jama's DNA was later found on the victim. The then 20-year-old denied ever being near the nightclub on that night, saying he was reading the Koran to his critically ill father at his bedside in their home in the northern suburbs. The only evidence police had was the DNA sample of Mr Jama, which was coincidentally taken 24 hours before the alleged crime after he was investigated over another unrelated matter but not charged. Prosecutors told the Victoria Court of Appeal earlier this week that it had since been discovered that the same forensic medical officer who took the first DNA sample of Mr Jama had coincidently taken the DNA sample from the 40-year-old rape complainant 24 hours later. They said it had emerged that the officer had not adhered to strict procedure when taking the sample and therefore they could not “exclude the possibility” of contamination. Therefore they argued the guilty verdict was unsafe and satisfactory and should be quashed. His lawyer Kimani Adil Boden hailed a “momentous” day for Mr Jama, whose case he described as “tragic”. “He's been in custody for close to one-and-a-half years on charges he didn't commit. “Justice has finally been done, however, at a price.” Victoria's police chief responded to Mr. Jama's release by banning all forensic officers from submitting DNA evidence or providing statements to the courts until further notice.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In cases where it is learned that there has been a wrongful conviction I instinctively turn to the newspaper reports of the innocent person's conviction. I truly felt the proverbial shivers along my spine when I read the following account of then 21-year-old Farah Jama's conviction for rape in July, 2008. How must Farah Jama have felt on hearing the judge's harsh and unforgiving words?
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"A RAPIST who claimed he was praying by his critically-ill father's bedside when his victim was attacked has been jailed," the Herald Sun story by reporter Katie Bice began, under the heading "Farah Jama used his dying dad as rape alibi."
"A DNA sample led police to Farah Jama, 21, months after his victim, who was in her 40s, was found unconscious in a locked toilet cubicle at a Doncaster nightspot in July 2006," the story continued.
"The County Court heard the woman had virtually no memory of the night or the attack upon her but felt shame, guilt and rage.
Doctors said her symptoms were similar to those experienced by people given the date-rape drug GHB, although tests could not find any in her system.
Judge Paul Lacava said a DNA sample taken from the victim was matched to Jama after he was investigated over an unrelated matter for which he was not charged.
But Jama pleaded not guilty, claiming he was at his family's Preston home on the night of the rape because his father was ill.
Family members told the jury Jama was reading his father passages from the Koran and "listening to him pronounce his last will" for all but 15 minutes of that night.
Judge Lacava said the claim was "most unsatisfactory" and must have been rejected by the jury who found Jama guilty of one count of rape.
In a victim impact statement the woman said she left the nightclub in an ambulance having lost her memory and her dignity.
"I was violated in a most reprehensible way and preyed upon by another individual," she said.
"I have felt shame, rage and unrelenting guilt that I don't think will ever leave me."
Judge Lacava said Jama's attack on the unwell woman was offensive, repugnant and intolerable to society.
"You raped her when she was in a most vulnerable state," he said.
"You obviously saw her and sized up the situation. Instead of assisting her . . . you raped her for your own immediate and short-lived sexual gratification."
Judge Lacava said he was guarded about Jama's chances of rehabilitation despite his youth because he had shown no remorse.
He jailed Jama for six years with a non-parole term of four years."
The story can be found at:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/rapist-used-his-dying-dad/story-0-1111117019249
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
