O. L. v. Liliana Jara

BACKGROUND

O.L. met her alleged assailant online and went on a date with him. She

claimed that he raped her later that night, and she reported it to the EMPD. O.L.

showed Officer Martha Tate messages on her cell phone between herself and the

alleged assailant. In those messages, O.L. casually discussed the sexual activity that

occurred the night of the alleged rape and agreed to meet him again for a future

sexual encounter. Based on these messages, Officer Tate questioned O.L. about

alcohol use, consent, and her motive for reporting the alleged crime.

O.L.’s case was later transferred to LASD. Detective Liliana Jara interviewed

her. O.L. showed Detective Jara the same messages on her cell phone. Detective

Jara also saw a message in which O.L. told the alleged assailant that she “could make

him lose his job” after she discovered that he had remained active on the online

dating website where they met. The detective, too, questioned O.L. about her motive

for reporting the alleged crime and ultimately told O.L. that her case suffered from

2 many problems.

At the end of the interview, O.L. agreed to provide her cell phone to LASD to

download messages. O.L. provided…