11 days before the Jan. 16 trial date for Decapitated, Spokane County prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald filed a motion dismissing all rape and kidnapping charges. The motion cites ‘the well being of the victim’ as a reason for dropping the charges without prejudice, meaning the four men could be prosecuted in the future.”
Decapitated posted today on their Facebook page:
“All charges against Decapitated have formally been dropped. Arrested September 8 in Santa Ana whilst on tour, the members of the band were jailed until December where they were released on their own recognizance. New evidence arose that helped show that the band was innocent. While a trial would have given the band the opportunity to have all this evidence heard, the band welcome the decision and are excited to return back to their homes in Poland. The members of Decapitated – Wacław, Rafal, Michał and Hubert – send a sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who supported them during this difficult time, including fans, friends, and family.”
So What Happened?
What’s this all about? Well, back in August, 2017, while on tour in Spokane, Washington (USA), Polish death metal band, Decapitated, were arrested on rape and kidnapping charges.
According to a report from USA Today (October 24, 2017): “Two women told police they were invited onto the tour bus after the band’s show in downtown Spokane the night of Aug. 31. One woman said that after talking with the band, she went into a bathroom on the bus, where she was grabbed and raped by each member of the band. The other woman told police she was able to escape after kicking one of the men in the groin.”
Deputies later stated the victim had “significant bruising to her upper arms consistent with being restrained” and “small abrasions on her knuckles that were scabbed over.” All four members of Decapitated were then arrested on September 9 in Santa Ana, California after performing at the Observatory. Source
The band continuously denied the accusations, but for the next 3 months, all four members of Decapitated were forced to remain first in Los Angeles County Jail, then in a Spokane, WA (not jail, just the state) until sentencing, also having to cancel all their tour dates.
Charges Dropped
Today, all this comes to an end (hopefully), for all charges against the band have been formally dropped. There’s no information on why the prosecutor dropped the case, but “band’s defense was planning to cast doubt on the victim over an encounter with law enforcement when she lied about injuries sustained by a boyfriend.” (Source) The woman also has a documented history of providing false information to the police dating back to 2014, and a volunteer at The Pin claimed that the two accusers “were ‘groping’ and ‘all over’ the lead singer and another member of the band.” The volunteer also told police officers that he saw “one woman chugging a clear liquid.” He believed that the victim had consumed alcohol (Source), and Andy Marsh of Thy Art is Murder provided testimony for the defense saying that he saw the woman violently dancing in the mosh pit in front of the stage. “She was smashing her hands, arms, and body against the metal barricade between the audience and the stage,” he said in the court documents (source).
“Hopefully” this is the end of this
Now, when I say “hopefully”, I mean because the band can still be prosecuted in the future (law was never my strong suit (no pun intended), maybe somebody can explain this in the comments section below?). There’s also the question as to whether or not the band could now counter-sue the women for false accusations and attempted defamation (wasn’t a law passed recently supporting this)? And if not the girls, can they at least sue the city of Spokane, WA for not having enough evidence for their arrest or holding them? Please feel free to enlighten us in the comment section below.
Anyway, we sure are glad the charges were dropped and the truth came out, and before the sentencing! To Decapitated: Sorry you had to go through that during your visit to our country. We hope you’ll return someday, but we’d understand if you didn’t. Rock Safely!
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