Views from the Sieve

I have constantly been pilloried for believing that this whole case was always wholly unsafe, and has ruined the lives of several people (most particularly both Evans and the girl involved - a girl who never thought she had been raped in the first place) just to satisfy the post-Saville paranoia of the police, media, and the "mob".
And I was constantly told "he was found guilty by a court that has heard all the evidence" and therefore he is most certainly a rapist, not only that, but despite serving his sentence his life must be one of purgatory for as long as he lives.
Well now that the new evidence has been heard in a court of law and he has been found not guilty, are those same people going to admit they were wrong ..... or will I be subjected to a torrent of but, but, buts?
Yes, it was a rhetorical question - I know the answer.
Anyway, good on Evans .... best of luck mate - you are still a slimeball, but at the moment that is not a crime.

............ or maybe I jumped the gun on this!!!!! - please read this post again when the new trial is over - the result will still be that he is innocent, it is just going to put more anguish on Evans, his team, and probably more importantly the poor girl who was pretty much forced to go through this trial.

Unbelieveable that the taxpayer has to fund another trial. I wonder how much this circus has cost me so far?

Evans been convicted, and he's lost an appeal. Either the "new" evidence makes that conviction unsafe or it doesn't. So uphold it or quash the conviction.

The only winners here are the lawyers.

The legal system in the UK is a joke.

Apart from having a lot of sympathy for Evans I also have a lot for the girl in this case. She never thought she had been raped but was told by police she had. This despite the fact she was a promiscuous girl who liked to go out and drink too much, take drugs and have lots of casual sex - and there is nothing wrong in that (apart from the drugs), but it does show she knows exactly what casual sex is all about, and she didn't think it was rape. This new evidence, from what I understand, is pretty damning mobile phone messages which she destroyed (quite possibly told to destroy) and which somehow Evans team has been able to get.
The girl must be in a terrible state now - surely she has suffered enough - if she had made the original complaint I would happily see her get all she deserves, but she didn't. She is going to have to go through it all again and knows that with the new evidence she will almost certainly lose and will also come out looking extremely unpleasant and devious.
The behaviour of both of them and Donaldson on that night was wholly vulgar, but I can't see it as a crime.
What are the legalities here - can she refuse to testify or can the prosecution just "throw in the towel" or do we have to go through this charade which Mike correctly says will just be another bumper payday for the lawyers.
Meantime, Evans career is still on hold with time running out, and the girl has got to endure another year or so of trauma which I am sure she never wanted.

We must not talk about this case at all presently as it is "sub-judece" because the appeal court ordered a re-trial.

You can keep your own opinions, of course - but you must not (until the conclusion of the retrial) publicly discuss, comment or speculate about any thing surrounding this matter for fear of contempt of court.

Well it's been publicly discussed by the media and all over social media already- and no brand new information/evidence is going to be mentioned on this forum, so I think everyone will be safe. Unless maybe someone knows a jury member is constantly on this forum and they're trying to influence their verdict.

I think whatever happens now Evans is screwed. Even if he was found to be innocent, many people will refuse to accept that and still call him a rapist. Being wrongly or rightly convicted as a rapist once is going to be tagged to you for life, no matter if you could prove that you were innocent. No club will go near him in fear of upsetting the fans and their (wrongly or rightly held) views on him.