42 results for 'cat:"Sex Offender" AND cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Snauffer finds that the instructions given to the jury in defendant's sexual abuse case did not create a preferential credibility standard for the complaining witness. One instruction told the jury to be careful when fact-finding on the basis on one witness's testimony and the other told the jury that a conviction may legally be based on one witness's testimony. However, the trial court erred in convicting him for distinct acts of sexual abuse that occurred during the period for which he was also convicted of continuous sexual abuse. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Snauffer, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: F085895, Categories: Sentencing, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Westbrook finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault upon a minor under 14 and use of the minor in pornography based on sufficient evidence. Though defendant contends the court improperly instructed the jury that a mistake as to the victim's age is not a defense to a charge of using a minor in pornography, the state is not required to prove the defendant "knowingly" used her. Because defendant admitted he believed the minor was 16 years old during their sexual relationship, the instructional error was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Westbrook , Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 85868-COA, Categories: sex Offender, Child Pornography, jury Instructions
J. McFadden finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of child molestation and correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction. Defendant failed to reserve his objection to the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on rape as a lesser-included offense of child molestation. Under the law in effect at the time of his 2005 trial, defendant waived the right to assert that the trial court's decision was an error. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: A24A0459, Categories: sex Offender, jury Instructions
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J. Mayle finds the trial court properly included a flight jury instruction during defendant's trial on a rape charge. He left the apartment immediately after the assault and failed to respond to any of the letters sent to him by police, which indicated they were looking for him in connection with their investigation. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mayle, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-860, Categories: sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. O'Leary finds that sufficient toxicological and testimonial evidence that defendant knew a victim was too impaired to consent supports his conviction for rape by an intoxicating substance. There was also sufficient evidence that he intended to gain her trust, gave her intoxicants, led her from a bar and then raped her to support a kidnapping to commit rape count, too. Also, the existing standard jury instructions should be modified to explain the level of incapacitation or unconsciousness required before a jury can apply a relaxed or constructive force standard. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: O'Leary, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: G060049, Categories: sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault. The victim testified to experiencing multiple sexual assaults by defendant, her mother's boyfriend, occurring over a period of years between the ages of 3 and 14. Notably, though she had not seen defendant's penis, she knew what it was when he forced it into her mouth in a dark room. Defendant was apprised of the charges, and the jury was correctly not instructed on limiting certain conduct to rape and other conduct to sexual assault. Witness credibility is an issue for the jury, and the victim's testimony is sufficient. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CR 23-147, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. McKinnon holds that the trial court erred in admitting an uncharged act of sexual assault to show a common scheme with charged counts of sexual assault. The uncharged acts could not prove a common motive or plan since they occurred after the charged acts. Also, the jury was improperly instructed on the mental state required for sexual assault. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0547, Categories: Evidence, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Higginbotham finds the district court properly convicted defendant for producing child pornography. Law enforcement learned that internet addresses associated with a church uploaded child pornography images to a website. A warranted search of the church yielded a hard drive with videos of children taking baths in the church's offices. Certain videos captured defendant working with the pastor to set up the porn shoots. The court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress statements made to investigators where he admitted to setting up the shoots, or in excluding a psychologist's testimony that defendant shows no signs of pedophilia. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginbotham , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 23-40144, Categories: sex Offender, Child Pornography, jury Instructions
J. Heavican finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for first-degree sexual assault and sentenced to 35 to 40 years imprisonment. The victim, after a night of partying and drinking in multiple locations, accepted a ride from defendant. Defendant parked his vehicle in a parking lot before beginning his assault on the protesting victim, who then reported the assault to a police officer who had pulled up behind defendant's vehicle. There was no error in the court’s jury instruction on consent or its decision not to allow continued impeachment of the victim's prior statements to police. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Heavican , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: S-23-147, Categories: Evidence, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Sutton finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of rape, sodomy, and kidnapping. The state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant locked the victim in the trunk of her car and drover her to a secluded spot so he could force her to perform oral sex at gunpoint. Further, the court did not err in declining to answer the jury's question about whether defendant's sentences would run consecutively or concurrently. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sutton, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: WD85844, Categories: sex Offender, Kidnapping, jury Instructions
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. When considered as a whole, the jury instructions accurately summarized the law. Further, even if there were an error, the evidence against defendant was so overwhelming that it did not prejudice his case. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1542, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Palafox finds a lower court did not err when it convicted defendant of sexual assault of a child. Defendant appealed based on a jury instruction, which included a “factually impossible date” on which the victim would have no longer been a minor. However, since the jury established that sexual contact did in fact happen while the victim was a minor, this instruction creates “no egregious harm.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 08-23-00197-CR, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Welbaum finds that although no one, including the victim, witnessed defendant remove the victim's breast from her jacket and grope her while she slept, his conviction for gross sexual imposition was supported by sufficient, circumstantial evidence, including the victim's testimony she woke up several times after feeling someone grope her and eventually woke up to defendant having vaginal intercourse with her. Meanwhile, the trial court was not required to give a curative instruction to the jury following an emotional outburst by the victim after defendant's mother made faces and reacted inappropriately to her testimony at trial. The statements made by the victim were consistent with her testimony and did not affect the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-481, Categories: Evidence, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Sheehan finds the trial court erroneously instructed the jury during defendant's trial on rape and gross sexual imposition charges that the element of force could be proven by evidence the victim's "will was overcome by fear or duress alone." Although defendant was the victim's stepfather, she was 18 at the time of the sexual assault and was not, by definition, a child. The victim admitted during her testimony that defendant did not force her to do anything when he assaulted her in the shower, and although there is other evidence in the record that could satisfy the heightened force standard - including that the victim urinated on herself when defendant initially touched her - the jury instruction deprived defendant of a fair trial and his convictions must be vacated. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sheehan, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-471, Categories: Fair Trial, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Kamins finds the trial court plainly erred in failing to instruct on the mental state for the element of sexual contact but declines to correct the error. The guilty verdicts, which indicate that the jury believed the touching had occurred make it "unlikely that the jury did not also find that defendant knowingly subjected the victim to sexual contact.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Kamins, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: A178211, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Markle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of rape and aggravated sodomy. The trial court did not commit any error by failing to instruct the jury on attacking a witness's credibility. Evidence of defendant's prior statutory rape conviction was correctly admitted because it was relevant to defendant's identity and intent. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel performed deficiently. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Markle, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: A23A1753, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Aoyagi finds trial court properly declined to declare a mistrial after a witness vouched for the complainant that contributed to defendant’s conviction for two counts of first-degree sodomy. “The court took appropriate corrective action to address the situation, including striking the testimony, giving a detailed curative instruction, and giving a final instruction that reiterated the jury’s singular responsibility for making credibility determinations.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: A176792, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. McKinnon finds that the trial court gave the jury in defendant's sexual intercourse without consent trial the wrong definition of "knowingly" for the "without consent" element. It said the crime involves an act with a high probability that the other person does not consent. Instead, the crime requires that he knowingly had intercourse without the other person's consent. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: DA 21-0372, Categories: sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Maraman partially finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of the sexual assault of a 16-year-old. The prosecution did not vouch for the victim in a statement about her memory of the incident, as he was referencing evidence and there is sufficient evidence that the victim was physically helpless and unable to communicate properly due to severe intoxication. The jury’s consent instruction was also therefore proper, though the instruction regarding aiding and abetting was not. The instruction did not include that aiding abetting includes demonstrating specific intent of defendant and the two friends he committed the assault with, and the omission may have caused the jury to convict defendant of a separate assault charge. Affirmed in part.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Maraman, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: CRA21-14, Categories: sex Offender, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Navarro finds the trial court was not required to include a jury instruction regarding defendant's culpable mental state in relation to the charge of sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust. A knowing mental state is not required for the position of trust element of the crime. The term "knowingly" appears in an entirely separate clause from the "position of trust" language in the criminal statute, which is intended to protect the child victims, regardless of whether the perpetrator subjectively believes they are in a position of trust. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Navarro, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 2023COA102, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Mead finds that defendant was improperly convicted on Counts 3 and 4, because there was not a specific unanimity instruction given. Those counts included unlawful sexual contact (Class B) and unlawful sexual contact (Class C). The instruction was not required on the remaining counts, however, and those are due to be affirmed. Vacated in part.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Mead, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 2023ME64, Categories: sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Murphy finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for three counts of sexual indecency with a child. Defendant's minor cousins have disclosed that he made sexual comments toward them, soliciting intercourse. One of them, out of fear that he would become physical, began secretly recording him. All testimony and evidence were properly admitted. The court told the jury to disregard the beginning of a vague question by the state that did not indicate a crime for which defendant was previously investigated. Any problem was cured by the instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Murphy , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: CR-22-402, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Markle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of aggravated child molestation and child molestation. The trial court's jury instructions sufficiently covered a charge requested by defendant on witness credibility related to the victim's delayed outcry. The trial court did not commit any error by charging the jury that time is not an essential element of the offenses. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Markle, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: A23A0971, Categories: sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Lawrence finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of unlawful sexual contact following a jury trial. On appeal, defendant contends that the prosecutor erred with certain statements during closing arguments, specifically "regarding the jury's consideration of the victim's motive to lie," but the court concludes that "there was no prosecutorial error." Also, there was no error with the jury instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Lawrence, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 2023ME55, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, sex Offender, jury Instructions