Chapter 10 Crimes against Persons II Sex Offenses Bodily Injury and Personal Restraint Sex Offenses Aggravated rape rape by strangers or individuals with weapons who Unarmed acquaintance rape nonconsensual sex between individuals who physically injure their victims are known to one another Criminal justice system deals fairly well with aggravated rapes but has failed miserably when it comes to unarmed acquaintance rapes because Victim s aren t likely to report unarmed acquaintance rapists or they don t recognize them as rapes When victims do report them the police are less likely to believe the victims than they are the victims of aggravated rape Prosecutors are less likely to charge unarmed acquaintance rapists Juries are less likely to convict unarmed acquaintance rapists Unarmed acquaintance rapists are likely to escape punishment if their victims don t follow the rules of middle class morality Common law rape intentional forced heterosexual vaginal penetration by a man of a woman who isn t his wife Corroboration rule an element in rape that the prosecution had to prove rape by the testimony of witnesses other than the victim Rape Shield statutes statutes that prohibit introducing evidence of victims Prompt reporting rule requires that rape victims report the rape soon after Marital Rape exception provided that legally husbands couldn t rape their past conduct it occurs wives People v Evans The Elements of Modern Rape Law Actus Reus sexual penetration by force or threat of force Mens rea intentional sexual penetration Circumstance nonconsent by the victim Force and Resistance Rule provided that victims had to prove to the court that they didn t consent to rape by demonstrating that they resisted the force of the rapist Utmost resistance standard requirement that rape victims had to use all the physical strength they had to prevent penetration Reasonable resistance rule provides that the amount of force required to repel rapists shows nonconsent in rape prosecutions Extrinsic Force in rape cases requires some force in addition to the amount needed to accomplish the penetration Intrinsic Force in rape requires only the amount of force necessary to accomplish the penetration Commonwealth v Berkowitz Prior Robert Berkowitz was convicted of rape and indecent assault and he appealed The court reversed the rape conviction Facts College sophomore at East Stroudsburg State University age 20 with the victim being 19 They had mutual friends and acquaintances The victim went back to her dorm room drank a martini to loosen up a bit then went into Berkowitz hall in order to meet up with her boyfriend When in the lounge waiting for her boyfriend she decided to go up to hang out with Berkowitz roommate Earl Victim left a note to Earl stating that she was drunk and she would talk to him later She went into his room and left the note in Earl s dresser while Berkowitz was in his bed He invited her to stay awhile which she complied He then asked for a back rub which she denied and tried to get her to sit on his bed which she also denied She had been complaining about her boyfriend Berkowitz then sat on the ground next to her shoved her a little and then straddled her He began kissing her which she replied no she has a boyfriend He then fondled her and had his hand up her shirt They kissed for around 30 seconds before he undid his pants The victim continuously said no but was unable to move He pushed her onto the bed not aggressively then entered her and ejaculated on her stomach Afterwards she left the room and cried to her boyfriend Berkowitz had locked the door but it was not a lock that was able to lock people from the inside Berkowitz said he did first initiate the contact but claimed that she said no while moaning passionately He claimed the victim helped him take her clothing off When he saw a blank look on her face he immediately exited her and asked if everything was alright Issue Did Berkowitz have sexual intercourse with the victim by force Holding Rape conviction reversed State in the Interest of M T S Subjective Fear means that the victim honestly feared imminent and serious bodily harm Objective Fear means that the fear was reasonable under the circumstances Brandishing a weapon and verbal threats satisfy the requirement Fraud in the fact in rape occurs when the rapist fraudulently convinces his victim that the act consented to was something other than sexual intercourse Fraud in the inducement in rape occurs when the fraud is in the benefits promised not the act Honest and Reasonable Mistake Rule a negligence mental element in rape cases in which the defendant argues that he honestly but mistakenly believed the victim consented to sex Statutory Rape Statutory Rape to have carnal knowledge of a person under the age of consent whether or not accomplished by force Defense of reasonable mistake of age a defense to statutory rape in California and Alaska if the defendant reasonably believed his victim was at or over the age of consent Grading the Degrees of Rape Aggravated rape involves at least one of the following circumstances 1 The victim suffers serious bodily injury 2 A stranger commits the rape 3 The rape occurs in connection with another crime 4 The rapist is armed 5 The rapist has accomplices 6 The victim is a minor and the rapist is several years older Simple Rape also known as second degree rape it s rape committed without aggravated circumstances Penetrations are more serious than contacts Forcible penetrations and contracts are more serious than simple nonconsensual penetrations and contacts Physical injury to the victim aggravates the offense Rapes involving more than one rapist gang rapes are more serious than those involving a single rapist Bodily Injury and Threats of Bodily Injury Crimes Battery unwanted and unjustified offensive touching Assault an attempt to commit battery or intentionally putting another in fear Attempted battery assault consists of having the specific intent to commit battery and taking substantial steps towards carrying it out without actually completing the attempt Intentional Scaring threatened battery assault sometimes called intentional scaring requires only that actors intent to frighten their victims thus expanding assault beyond attempted battery Conditional Threats threats based upon the existence of certain conditions that don t presently exist aren t enough to satisfy the mens rea of assault because they re not immediate Hamilton v