Opinion ID: 1578391
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: reasonable-mistake-of-age defense

Text: This Court first stated that a good-faith or reasonable mistake as to the complainant's age is not a defense to a statutory rape charge in People v Gengels, 218 Mich 632; 188 NW 398 (1922), nearly 61 years ago. In that case, the defendant was convicted under the predecessor to the current criminal sexual conduct statute of carnally knowing a female child under 16 years of age. The defendant testified that the complainant told him that she was 18 years old. This Court reversed the defendant's conviction and granted a new trial on the ground that the prosecutor had impermissibly impeached the defendant by collateral evidence of similar acts. While recognizing that such evidence may be admissible where guilt of a particular crime depends on intent, the Court noted: But in the crime charged here proof of the intent goes with proof of the act of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of consent. It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove want of consent. Proof of consent is no defense, for a female child under the statutory age is legally incapable of consenting. Neither is it any defense that the accused believed from the statement of his victim or others that she had reached the age of consent. 33 Cyc, p 1438, and cases cited. Gengels, supra, p 641. The Gengels decision has only been cited once in this state's courts for the proposition that mistake of age is not a defense to a statutory rape charge. People v Doyle, 16 Mich App 242; 167 NW2d 907 (1969), lv den 382 Mich 753 (1969). [2] In Doyle, the defendant was charged with taking indecent liberties with a female under 16 years of age. [3] The Court of Appeals observed that [c]urrent social and moral values make more realistic the California view that a reasonable and honest mistake of age is a valid defense to a charge of statutory rape, People v Hernandez, 61 Cal 2d 529; 39 Cal Rptr 361; 393 P2d 673 (1964). Id., p 243. The Court, however, concluded that it was bound to follow the Gengels rule and therefore refused to adopt the mistake-of-age defense in indecent liberties cases. Neither in Gengels nor in Doyle was the constitutionality of the rule prohibiting the defense of a reasonable mistake of age to a statutory rape charge squarely presented.
This Court for the first time has the opportunity to review the rule announced in Gengels and determine whether it is still viable under the successor provision of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute and, if so, whether it comports with a defendant's right to due process. The statute reads, in relevant part: (1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if the person engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists: (a) That other person is at least 13 years of age and under 16 years of age. MCL 750.520d; MSA 28.788(4). Sexual penetration is defined as: [S]exual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, but emission of semen is not required. MCL 750.520a(h); MSA 28.788(1)(h). In the present case, defendant directly attacks the constitutionality of the above statute on due process grounds for imposing criminal liability without requiring proof of specific criminal intent, i.e., that the accused know that the victim is below the statutory age of consent. In particular, he argues that the crime of statutory rape is rooted in the common law and, as with other common-law offenses, the element of intent must be implied within the statutory definition of a crime, absent clear legislative language to the contrary. [4] We are urged by defendant to construe the statute's silence with respect to the element of intent as not negating the defense of a reasonable mistake of fact as to the complainant's age. In support of his argument, defendant relies primarily on two out-of-state cases which represent the minority view that, in a statutory rape prosecution, an accused's reasonable, though mistaken, belief that the complainant was of the age of consent is a valid defense. [5] People v Hernandez, 61 Cal 2d 529; 39 Cal Rptr 361; 393 P2d 673 (1964); State v Guest, 583 P2d 836 (Alas, 1978). In both these cases, the Court engrafted a mens rea element onto the statutes in question where they were otherwise silent as to any requisite criminal intent. The vast majority of states, as well as the federal courts, which have considered this identical issue have rejected defendant's arguments and do not recognize the defense of a reasonable mistake of age to a statutory rape charge. [6] For the reasons discussed below, we agree with the majority's position. After careful examination of the statute in the instant case and its legislative history, we are persuaded that the Legislature, in enacting the new criminal sexual conduct code, 1974 PA 266, intended to omit the defense of a reasonable mistake of age from its definition of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 13- to 16-year-old, and we follow the legislative intention. First, a general rule of statutory construction is that the Legislature is presumed to know of and legislate in harmony with existing laws. People v Harrison, 194 Mich 363, 369; 160 NW 623 (1916). The Legislature must have been aware of our earlier decision rejecting the reasonable-mistake-of-age defense under the old statutory rape statute. Had the Legislature desired to revise the existing law by allowing for a reasonable-mistake-of-age defense, it could have done so, but it did not do so. [7] This is further supported by the fact that under another provision of the same section of the statute, concerning the mentally ill or physically helpless rape victim, the Legislature specifically provided for the defense of a reasonable mistake of fact by adding the language that the actor knows or has reason to know of the victim's condition where the prior statute contained no requirement of intent. [8] The Legislature's failure to include similar language under the section of the statute in question indicates to us the Legislature's intent to adhere to the Gengels rule that the actual, and not the apparent, age of the complainant governs in statutory rape offenses. Second, while the crime of statutory rape has its origins in the English common law, [9] Michigan's new criminal sexual conduct statute represents a major attempt by the Legislature to redefine the law of sexually assaultive crimes, including that of statutory rape. See People v Willie Johnson, 406 Mich 320, 327; 279 NW2d 534 (1979); People v Langworthy, 416 Mich 630, 658; 331 NW2d 171 (1982) (LEVIN, J., dissenting) . It is well established that the Legislature may, pursuant to its police powers, define criminal offenses without requiring proof of a specific criminal intent and so provide that the perpetrator proceed at his own peril regardless of his defense of ignorance or an honest mistake of fact. United States v Balint, 258 US 250, 252; 42 S Ct 301; 66 L Ed 604 (1922); Williams v North Carolina, 325 US 226, 238; 65 S Ct 1092; 89 L Ed 1577 (1945), reh den 325 US 895 (1945). In the case of statutory rape, such legislation, in the nature of strict liability offenses, has been upheld as a matter of public policy because of the need to protect children below a specified age from sexual intercourse on the presumption that their immaturity and innocence prevents them from appreciating the full magnitude and consequences of their conduct. Analysis of the statutory scheme adopted by the Legislature to define criminal sexual conduct further reveals that the Legislature cannot reasonably be said to have intended that a defense based on reasonable mistake of fact concerning the victim's age be available to persons charged under the act. We are dealing with a statute, passed by the Legislature just nine years ago, which shows, on its face, that the age of the victim was carefully considered in defining and establishing the severity of the criminal conduct. The age of the victim is balanced against the nature of the sexual conduct to establish a graduated system of punishment. See MCL 750.520b-750.520d; MSA 28.788(2)-28.788(4). Under the prior rape or carnal knowledge statute, sexual penetration of a female under the age of 16 was defined as rape, punishable by life imprisonment or any term of years. 1931 PA 328, § 520. In 1974, when the Legislature revised the law of criminal sexual conduct, it could have retained this definition of statutory rape and could have continued to punish it as criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, i.e., by life imprisonment or any term of years. The Legislature chose not to do so. The Legislature, alternatively, could have completely decriminalized consensual sexual activity with a person between the ages of 13 and 16, or, for that matter, it could have made age irrelevant. But it chose not to do so. [10] What the Legislature did choose to do was to create a system of definitions and punishments which considers the age of the victim, the type of sexual contact, and several limited situations in which the relationship of authority between victim and defendant warrant, in the legislative judgment, an increase in punishment. Thus, the Legislature has determined that sexual penetration of a victim under 13 years of age is first-degree criminal sexual conduct which is punishable by life imprisonment or any term of years. MCL 750.520b(1)(a), 750.520b(2); MSA 28.788(2)(1)(a), 28.788(2)(2). But sexual penetration of a victim 13 or older, but under 16 years of age, is third-degree criminal sexual conduct, with a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. MCL 750.520d(1)(a), 750.520d(2); MSA 28.788(4)(1)(a), 28.788(4)(2). However, if the victim is at least 13, but less than 16 years of age, and is a member of the defendant's household or related to the defendant, a person who engages in sexual penetration of that victim is guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and may receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. MCL 750.520b(1)(b), 750.520b(2); MSA 28.788(2)(1)(b), 28.788(2)(2). These discrete choices made by the Legislature evidence careful consideration of age and a deliberate determination to retain the law of statutory rape where the prohibited conduct occurred and the victim was within the protected age group. One critic has argued that the exclusion of a reasonable-mistake-of-age defense in statutory rape cases is no longer justified given the increased age of consent, [11] the realities of modern society that young teens are more sexually mature, and the seriousness of the penalty as compared with other strict liability offenses. [12] We are not convinced that the policy behind the statutory rape laws of protecting children from sexual exploitation and possible physical or psychological harm from engaging in sexual intercourse is outmoded. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court recently acknowledged the state's authority to regulate the sexual behavior of minors in order to promote their physical and mental well-being, even under a gender-based statutory rape law. [13]
Contrary to defendant's contention, the mistake-of-age defense, at least with regard to statutory rape crimes, is not constitutionally mandated. We quote with approval the following language from Nelson v Moriarty, 484 F2d 1034, 1035-1036 (CA 1, 1973): Petitioner claims that his honest belief that the prosecutrix of the statutory rape charge was over sixteen years of age should constitute a defense, of constitutional dimensions, to statutory rape. The effect of mens rea and mistake on state criminal law has generally been left to the discretion of the states.    The Supreme Court has never held that an honest mistake as to the age of the prosecutrix is a constitutional defense to statutory rape,    and nothing in the Court's recent decisions clarifying the scope of procreative privacy,    suggests that a state may no longer place the risk of mistake as to the prosecutrix's age on the person engaging in sexual intercourse with a partner who may be young enough to fall within the protection of the statute. Petitioner's argument is without merit. Moreover, given the already highly emotional setting of a statutory rape trial, the allowance of a mistake-of-age defense would only cause additional undue focus on the complainant by the jury's scrutinizing her appearance and any other visible signs of maturity. The obvious problem is that because early adolescents tend to grow at a rapid rate, by the time of trial a relatively undeveloped young girl or boy may have transformed into a young woman or man. A better procedure would be to permit any mitigating and ameliorating evidence in support of a defendant's mistaken belief as to the complainant's age to be considered by the trial judge at the time of sentencing. [14] We again note that our decision is in line with the preponderant majority of jurisdictions, both state and federal, which do not recognize the reasonable-mistake-of-age defense for statutory rape offenses and have likewise upheld against due process challenges their respective statutes' imposition of criminal liability without the necessity of proving the defendant's knowledge that the victim was below the designated age. Accordingly, we reaffirm our earlier opinion in Gengels and reject the reasonable-mistake-of-age defense for cases brought under § 520d(1)(a) of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute.