Originally Posted by Gilda

I wasn't aware that such a state as she describes was possible.

Originally Posted by http://www.alcoholblackout.com/index.html[/quote

It isn't just murder cases. Dr. Sweeney has been consulted in several rape cases. A woman wakes up in bed with a man. Perhaps he says how great the sex was. She doesn't remember any or very little of it, but she is appalled and charges rape. He claims he didn't know she had blacked out. She was a willing participant to him. Who is to be believed? It is a legal conundrum dependent on knowledge of blackouts.

Originally Posted by http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Blackouts/index.html

While often confused with passing out, or losing consciousness after excessive drinking, blackouts do not involve a loss of consciousness. Indeed, individuals can engage in a wide range of goal-directed, voluntary, often complicated behaviors during blackouts -- from driving cars to having sexual intercourse (White et al., 2002).

Originally Posted by http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Blackouts/blackouts17.html

During a blackout, the areas of the brain involved in forming new long-term memories are temporarily knocked offline. It is as if someone forgot to push the brain's record button. The ability to recall memories formed prior to becoming intoxicated is far less affected by alcohol, as is the ability to keep information active in short-term memory for a few seconds or more. There are several important implications of these facts. Because an individual in the midst of a blackout might be perfectly capable of carrying on conversations about the past and present and engaging in complicated activities, it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for someone to recognize that the individual is experiencing a blackout and will not recall these events later. This fact can seriously complicate a determination of guilt in situations involving alleged sexual assaults in which the alleged victim cannot recall whether or not they were a willing participant in the event.

Sadly, the following scenario is not uncommon. A female student either realizes or later learns that she engaged in sexual activity, perhaps intercourse, with a male that she might or might not know, yet has no memory of the event (White et al., 2004). Because this behavior might be completely out of character for them, they assume they must have been assaulted. The male asserts that the female was a willing participant and might also indicate that she actually initiated the interaction (for an example see Eastman, 2002). Sometimes the evidence clearly indicates that sexual assault did take place (e.g., people witnessed the alleged victim vomiting just prior to when she supposedly consented to sexual activity), while in other cases there are compelling reasons to believe that both parties provided consent (e.g., other people witnessed the sexual activity occur). Regardless, in such cases the lives of all of those involved can be thrown into chaos and, whether or not a crime occurred, deep emotional scars can result. A recent case at UC Berkeley provides a perfect example. Below are portions of a media report discussing the circumstances. (see website for case)

In the case discussed above, the exact details about what transpired during that night will probably never be known. Perhaps the male in this case committed a blatant act of rape. Perhaps the female gave clear indications of consent but does not remember. Regardless, their lives will probably never be the same, nor will the lives of their families and friends.