People can claim all day. Doesn't mean he's guilty. I don't know if you know this but some women can actually alter their memories by crossing their current emotional state with a past memory. This can cause mutual consent encounters to be recalled as assault.
Misinformation effect (Elizabeth Loftus's research): Post-event information or suggestions distorts recall. Emotions (regret, shame, anger, social pressure) act similarly, leading someone to reinterpret a consensual encounter as coercive.
Emotion's role: Negative feelings after the fact can bias interpretation and memory. Studies on disputed sexual encounters note how post-event emotions contribute to false memories of coercion or mislabeling consensual acts as assault. This is especially relevant in acquaintance scenarios with alcohol or unclear signals.
Source monitoring errors and confabulation: Correct elements mix with incorrect attributions (e.g., "I feel bad now, so I must not have truly consented then"). Confabulation fills gaps unintentionally, not as deliberate lying.
False memory phenomena: Broader category where people recall events differently (or entirely falsely). This has been documented in therapy-induced cases, suggestible states, and high-stakes personal reinterpretations. "False memory syndrome" describes patterns of confident but inaccurate autobiographical recall, often tied to trauma narratives.
