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The Jerusalem District Court acquitted Shlomo of rape in July 1997 due to reasonable doubt. However, there are questions about that decision and the police investigation that led up to it.

The alleged victim, Shlomo's girlfriend, decided not to appeal the decision because she had given up hope of receiving justice in the state's law-enforcement and justice system, Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center director Noga Shiloah said.

Among the problematic parts of the investigation was a police decision to arrange a confrontation between the two shortly after she lodged the complaint. Instead of recording or videotaping the confrontation, police merely wrote down their impressions of it, including their conclusion that the woman was lying because she was nervous and uncomfortable throughout the confrontation.

"The police did everything they could to help him be acquitted," Shiloah said.

In their decision, the judges focused on the fact that the woman couldn't find the place where the alleged rape occurred and that they hadn't been able to figure out whether she went to the police or the hospital first.

Since the rape happened after sunset in an area with which the woman was not familiar, Shiloah said, it is not surprising that she could not identify the place. And if the court had made a greater effort, she added, it would have been able to ascertain whether the woman went to the police or the hospital first.