Sexual assault cases are notoriously challenging to prove in court; indeed, Mr. Vance dropped both earlier cases because of questions about whether witnesses would be believed. His sex crimes unit had won convictions in difficult rape cases and had successfully pioneered strategies for pursuing cold cases with DNA evidence. Since 2010, when Mr. Vance took office, through 2017, his sex crime prosecutors have won 83 percent of their felony trials. Still, there was grumbling among advocates for rape victims about his office’s grueling questioning of women raped by acquaintances before an arrest was made. Several critics, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing prosecutors, said the questioning of rape victims in Manhattan was unnecessarily harsh.

Source: New York Times May 27, 2018 20:52 UTC