So what happens when justice fails to win out? Dr. Labeed Nouri, a 40-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Iraq, had to find out the hard way when a jury found him guilty of sexual assault he said he didn't commit.
A 19-year-old woman, who has yet to be named because she hasn't been charged with a crime, accused Nouri of assaulting and violating her with his fingers and touching her butt and boobs. The girl's father had asked Nouri to give her a job at his office, and Nouri obliged. Six days later came the accusations.
From the beginning the girl refused a rape kit, saying it would “unvirginize” her. When she was finally examined, the doctor found a small tear suggesting she wasn't a virgin after all.
Three years later, Nouri has been released and prosecutors are considering charging the woman with perjury. Evidence came to light suggesting that his side of the story might just be a little closer to the truth. Nouri's accuser is Chaldean, and her family believes women should maintain their virginity until marriage. Nouri says the girl had been having sex with her boyfriend and they'd broken up. Needing a reason to explain away her lack of virginity when she did get married, the girl apparently blamed her boss rather than admitting she'd had sex willingly with her boyfriend.