Man Wins Libel Case in Rape Allegation

A jury has found that the group Women Against Rape libeled a man when it circulated a flyer that falsely accused him of assault and attempted rape.

Steve Carney, who was never charged, was awarded $7,500 for pain and suffering and $25,000 in punitive damages by the seven-man, five-woman panel.

“I feel a lot better, but I can’t say I really won because there may be people out there who saw it (the flyer) and formed their own opinions,” Carney, 23, said after hearing Thursday’s verdict.

“I think it will teach them to be a little more careful about what accusations they choose to print about people,” he said.

Carney, of Scotts Valley, sued Women Against Rape of Santa Cruz, claiming that the group publicly humiliated him in a 1984 leaflet that said he assaulted and attempted to rape Karen Winkler, 24.

During the libel trial in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, it was brought out that Winkler never went to police and swore in a deposition that she didn’t know what happened the night she went out drinking with Carney and another co-worker.

Representatives of Women Against Rape testified that they based the flyer solely on Winkler’s word and by observing her behavior, which they said was consistent with a profile of women who have been sexually assaulted.