Sexual violence and the courts

Cases

• ▶Video · WRAL

  Criminal trialSentenced

  State of North Carolina v. Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares

  Durham Cnty. Super. Ct. · No. Pending

  A Durham County jury found Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares guilty on Oct. 23, 2026, of first-degree murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary in the 2012 killing of UNC-Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth, 19. He was sentenced to life without parole. He has filed notice of appeal, and on Nov. 3 his lawyers asked for a new trial.

  Updated November 14, 2026 · 3 min read

• ▶Video · NBC News

  CivilPretrial

  Jane Doe v. Cornell University, et al.

  N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. County · No. Index No. 161704/2026

  A former Cornell student's civil lawsuit alleges that seven fraternity members sexually assaulted her at the Chi Phi house in October 2024. The allegations haven't been tested in court, and all seven men deny wrongdoing. Tompkins County prosecutors declined to charge in 2024. The DA reopened the case in September 2026, and the governor then made the attorney general special prosecutor. No one has been charged.

  Updated November 14, 2026 · 4 min read

• ▶Video · Bench Watch

  Criminal trialVerdict

  United States v. Matthew Farwell

  D. Mass. · No. 1:24-cr-10259-DJC

  A federal jury in Boston convicted former Stoughton, Mass., police officer Matthew Farwell on Nov. 10, 2026, of killing Sandra Birchmore, 23, and her unborn son in February 2021. Jurors found him guilty on both counts, of killing a witness and of causing the death of an unborn child. Life in prison is mandatory. Sentencing is Feb. 3, 2027.

  Updated November 14, 2026 · 4 min read

• ▶Video · WDIV Local 4

  AppealDecided

  People of the State of Michigan v. Marshawn James Curtis

  Mich. Ct. App. · No. Mich. Ct. App. No. 369945

  A rape kit from a 2012 Lansing assault sat untested after prosecutors declined to charge. Sent to a lab in 2016 as part of a statewide initiative, the kit's DNA was later matched to Marshawn James Curtis, whom an Ingham County jury convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2023. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the conviction on March 19, 2026, and court records show no further appeal.

  Updated November 14, 2026 · 2 min read

Laws on the move

• ▶Video · NBC News

  New York · BillPassed one chamber

  New York's bills on intoxication and consent

  S54A, S10632/A101, S866 (2025-2026)

  Under New York's sex-crime definitions, a person who took drugs or alcohol on their own doesn't count as “mentally incapacitated,” which covers a substance only when it was given without consent. Three bills that passed the state Senate would change how the law treats intoxication and consent. All three are waiting in the Assembly's Codes Committee.

  Status as of June 4, 2026

• ▶Video · WDIV Local 4

  Michigan · StatuteIn effect

  Michigan's longer deadline to charge sex crimes

  2024 PA 268 (HB 4485)

  Since April 2, 2025, Michigan prosecutors have 15 years, or until the survivor's 42nd birthday, whichever is later, to charge second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. First-degree has no limit. The change doesn't apply to older cases.

  Status as of April 2, 2025

• ▶Video · WDIV Local 4

  Michigan · StatuteIn effect

  Michigan's rape kit laws

  2014 PA 227, 318 and 319

  Passed in 2014 after more than 11,000 untested kits were found in Detroit, these laws set deadlines for testing rape kits, created a statewide tracking system and give survivors the right to ask about their kit and their case. The money for the teams that work old kits is decided year to year.

  Status as of March 31, 2015

Trackers

• Issue tracker

  Michigan's untested rape kits, by the numbers

  Bench Watch logs the official numbers on Michigan's previously untested rape kits, including how many were found, tested and prosecuted, by date and by who reported them. The sources don't always agree, so we show each figure with its date and source, not as a trend.

  10 figures · Updated November 14, 2026

Stories