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Drink-spiking, rape case against Rhode Island man falls apart, charges dropped

By adamg on Wed, 03/08/2023 - 12:24pm

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office today dismissed its case against a Rhode Island man it had charged last year with spiking a woman's drink in a hotel bar in downtown Boston and then raping her in her hotel room.

Based on a review of all available evidence, including information that emerged after the defendant's arrest, the Commonwealth has determined that it cannot prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The DA's office declined to comment on the specifics of the new evidence related to its case against Robert McClanaghan.

Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Topics: 
Crime
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Comments

By Matt on Wed, 03/08/2023 - 2:36pm.

Maybe the victim couldn’t go through with a trial. There seems to be plenty of evidence.

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By Gary C on Wed, 03/08/2023 - 2:52pm.

I can't believe this guy is getting away with this. Adam's recap of the evidence from the original post:

Assistant District Attorney Erin Murphy said that on November 3 McClanaghan met the victim in the bar of a Boston hotel. Video surveillance obtained by investigators showed McClanaghan and the victim in the bar, and showed McClanaghan retrieve something from his pants pocket and appear to sprinkle something over the top of the victim’s drink. Surveillance also showed McClanaghan and the victim entering an elevator and exiting on the floor of the victim’s room.

Murphy said the victim remembered little of what happened next. When the victim woke up, she was in the hotel room bed, bleeding from her vagina and covered in bruises. The woman contacted police, and detectives noted bruising on her knees, ankles, hips, neck, arms and back. The victim showed detectives a photo McClanaghan sent to her phone the morning after the incident. The photos depicted a man performing sexual acts on a woman on a bed similar to the victim’s hotel bed. The victim also noted that the watch being worn by the man in the photo was similar to the watch worn by McClanaghan. The victim noted that her underwear was missing.

Murphy said investigators executed a search warrant on McClanaghan’s house and found the victim’s underwear, along with other women’s underwear.

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By anon on Wed, 03/08/2023 - 3:52pm.

Based on a review of all available evidence, including information that emerged after the defendant's arrest, the Commonwealth has determined that it cannot prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

You don't have to like it, but much like election results, you have to accept it.

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By Matt on Wed, 03/08/2023 - 7:37pm.

An aggrieved family member could take justice into their own hands. They wouldn’t have to accept this.

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By Jeff F on Thu, 03/09/2023 - 4:29pm.

Most reasonable people might agree that he would ‘deserve’ it, but in our society, if punishment of an unproven crime is extrajudicial, it’s not justice.

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By anon on Thu, 03/09/2023 - 8:40am.

Welcome to the world of women, friend.

A world where no one believes we are raped and where we don't have autonomy of our own bodies in oh so many ways.

Parents: Raise your boys better or don't have children.

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By Carty on Thu, 03/09/2023 - 6:02am.

the Globe front paged him hard ... it's nice work

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By NoMoreBanks on Thu, 03/09/2023 - 9:04am.

The conviction rate on these things is so, so low that the state essentially needs video evidence of snidely whiplash beating a woman with a bat before sexually assaulting her for them to win. And if they don't think there's a chance of winning, why put the victim through all of that? Blame juries in this country.

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