This time he physically led B.H. to a closet where he partially undressed her and again tried to penetrate her with his penis. He was unable to penetrate B.H. because she moved in a fashion that thwarted his efforts. B.H. left work without knowing whether she completed her shift. Following a two-day trial in December of 1999, Gonzalez was convicted of two counts of attempted statutory rape and acquitted of two counts forcible rape. Whether defendant may be convicted of attempted statutory rape upon the uncorroborated testimony of the complaining witness.
Trial courts possess wide discretion to remedy injustice by granting a new trial.
We review such decisions under an abuse of discretion standard. Our standard of review of a denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal is whether the State set forth sufficient evidence from which the jury could reasonably find the defendant guilty of the crime charged. Whether the trial court erred in failing to grant defendant a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence and upon the failure of the prosecution to disclose the counseling records of the complaining witness. Throughout the proceedings the State s Attorney insisted that counseling records did not exist. After confusion and miscommunication on the part of the State and its witness, the records were eventually turned over to Gonzalez.