Eminent Domain

Man to stand trial for rape after having sex with the wrong woman. This is a set of facts that sounds like it belongs in an American Pie movie.

Paul John Chappell, 31, was invited back to the editor's Bondi flat after they met during a night out.

The pair went to bed and Chappell later got up to use the bathroom.

But Chappell claims he mistakenly returned to the wrong bedroom, where the editor's 23-year-old flatmate was asleep.

He got into bed with the flatmate and initiated sex, allegedly believing she was the other woman.

The flatmate participated because she thought it was her own boyfriend who had come to bed after falling asleep in the loungeroom.

When she turned on the light, the "hysterical" woman saw Chappell in her bed and realised her boyfriend was still asleep on the couch.

Read the entire article though. It's really a hell of a situation. Here's an example of poor word choice...

"I was totally gutted that it was him and not (my boyfriend)," she said.

No further comment from me on that.

I'm reluctant to really comment much on this case for a few reasons. First, I'm not at all familiar with this Australian sexual intercourse without consent law. Second, I just don't think that this article contains enough facts to make any concrete conclusions.

I will say this though. Even if Chappell is telling the truth about his side of the story, he's still more to blame for the incident than the woman. He climbed into her bed and started having sex with her without verifying her identity. It's definitely a strange case, and I'm interested to see how it turns out in the end.