"Oh, ho ho! You sly dog! You got me monologuing! I can't believe it... "

[ The Incredibles.]

This is another false accusation of rape story, which as Glen Reynolds observes:

And we sure are seeing a lot of false rape charges nowadays, after decades of being told that women don’t lie about rape.

On the other hand, there is that amazing statistic that approximately 40% of all rape accusations are out and out fabrications.

Here is the story:

Gotcha" moments don't come more classic than the one that happened in Montgomery County recently.


The Sheriff's Office blotter says two officers were called to an apartment to investigate a sexual assault.

"The alleged victim stated to the deputies that her 26-year-old male friend had sexually assaulted her," the report says.

Fair enough, and with that friend standing in the same apartment, no big manhunt needed.

Not so fast: "Upon further investigation the deputies watched a video recording the male had made that showed the female telling him that she was calling the police because he was making her leave the apartment and she would tell the police he assaulted her."

That must have been some look on the woman's face when the dude hit "play."

Sheriff's Lt. Dan Norris tells Hair Balls he doesn't have any further info on the incident, including the name of the woman, who was arrested for making a false report.

"It was unusual, though," he says. "I remember reading that report and going, 'The man was looking out for himself.'"

There are a few things to ponder:

-- We have to assume this was some sort of romantic relationship, and a one-sided one at that. What is the strategical thinking that leads you to conclude falsely accusing the guy of rape is going to repair it?

-- How long would you let things play out between the woman and the officers, knowing all the time you had that slam-dunk in your pocket? Or do you just sit there praying the phone somehow didn't mess up and not record?

-- Once again, a villain is foiled by blabbing about his or her evil intent. Will they ever learn?

Three points.

First, my initial thought was that I was not not entirely sure if recording the conversation wouldn't have been illegal in California under Penal Code Section 632, which provides:

(a) Every person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

However, California Penal Code Section 633.5 provides:

Nothing in Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, or 632.7 prohibits one party to a confidential communication from recording the communication for the purpose of obtaining evidence reasonably believed to relate to the commission by another party to the communication of the crime of extortion, kidnapping, bribery, any felony involving violence against the person, or a violation of Section 653m. Nothing in Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, or 632.7 renders any evidence so obtained inadmissible in a prosecution for extortion, kidnapping, bribery, any felony involving violence against the person, a violation of Section 653m, or any crime in connection therewith.

It may - I underscore may - have been illegal to record this chick's ranting up to the point where she began spouting off about how she was going to fabricate a rape charge as part of her attempt to extort him into doing something or other.

Second, notwithstanding the issue of the legality of recording, a Penal Code 632 conviction seem like a way better deal than a rape conviction.

Third, with the ubiquity of recording devices in phones and whatnot, we may become a more honest society.