Under Minnesota law, the testimony of a rape victim does not need to be corroborated at trial by any other evidence. In other words, you can be convicted of a rape charge based on the testimony of the victim alone. The law is set up to insure against  false charges and wrongful convictions through several safety valves that are built  into the criminal  justice system. First, the prosecution is required to prove all of the elements of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt  before you can be convicted of rape. Second, a  defendant in a criminal case is afforded   the protection of the presumption of innocence.  Third, a criminal defendant  is  allowed to move for a judgment of acquittal at the close of the prosecution’s case. This motion removes  a weak case from the hands of the jury and allows a the judge to decide whether or not the prosecution has presented  sufficient evidence for the case to go to the jury for the ultimate decision on guilt or not guilty. These so called “safety valves”  may be of little consolation for a defendant who could be convicted of rape based on  a “he said, she said” mentality.