Door-to-door salesmen are not often accused of sexual assaults by their prospective customers. It does happen, however, and thus it is important for their employers to do a thorough check on their backgrounds. In one recent incident in Colorado, a 26-year-old man with an alleged prior criminal record was arrested for allegedly pushing his way into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her by force. The woman says that she fought him off, and the police caught the suspect and charged him with burglary and sex offenses.
The man worked for a magazine company that hires young people and takes them around the country soliciting subscriptions in residential neighborhoods. His defense counsel will first learn the details of the allegations and listen to the the client’s version of facts. Defense counsel, based on years of training and experience, will be able to get a good feel for the credibility and logical consistency of the accounts of the participants. In some cases, counsel may permit a client to take a lie detector test, but that is the exception rather than the rule, due to the danger of a cloudy or inaccurate result.
If the man admits to the offenses and requests a negotiated plea agreement, counsel will pursue that strategy. An early admission of guilt and a plea that essentially calls for mercy can sometimes be a powerful solution. If the defendant is requesting rehabilitation or has other contributing problems that may rise to the level of extenuating circumstances, it is possible that incarceration may be avoided. However, that may depend on the severity and extent of the alleged assault.
If the defendant insists that the charges are false, then his Colorado defense counsel will approach the case in a more adversarial way in order to sharpen his investigation and learn as much detail as possible about the alleged burglary and sex offenses. If defenses emerge that may be viable, the case may go to trial. The process is a fluid one and requires open and trusting communications between client and counsel.
