Simply because an allegation of sexual assault takes place doesn’t mean that a conviction will result in all cases. There can be many viable defenses to an allegation of sexual assault. When it comes to potential defenses, the viability of any given defense obviously depends on the specific circumstances. With that said, we can identify several defenses which tend to be raised more often than others. Mistake of fact is among the most common defenses; this is just a simple defense which says “the identity is mistaken” – the crime happened, but the perpetrator has been incorrectly identified – or “the crime never happened at all.” A mistake of fact defense depends on things such as the reliability of witnesses, the value or significance of the available evidence, and so forth.