Opinion ID: 780714
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 19 Crowley argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he intended to accomplish a sexual act by force. Appellant's Br. at 19-29. In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, the defendant faces an uphill battle, United States v. Jones, 30 F.3d 276, 281 (2d Cir.1994), and bears a very heavy burden, United States v. Rivera, 971 F.2d 876, 890 (2d Cir.1992) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), because the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, with all reasonable inferences drawn in favor of the verdict, United States v. Amato, 15 F.3d 230, 235 (2d Cir.1994). The question for this Court is not whether [it] believes that the evidence at trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, United States v. Brown, 937 F.2d 32, 35 (2d Cir.1991), but whether  any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (emphasis in original). 20 In support of this claim, Crowley points out that the evidence is uncontradicted that he was much stronger than the victim, that he repeatedly asked Vincent to allow him and Valjato to engage in sexual acts with her, and that he eventually voluntarily abandoned his endeavor and left the room. In effect, he claims that the evidence conclusively demonstrates that he never intended to complete a sexual act by force, because if he had really wanted to, he would have been able to accomplish his goal. The argument is misconceived. 21 Under § 2241(a)(1), it is a crime to attempt to cause[] another person to engage in a sexual act by using force against that other person. 18 U.S.C. § 2241(a)(1) (2000). A sexual act, within the meaning of this statute, includes the penetration, however slight, of the ... genital opening of another by a ... finger ..., with an intent to ... arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. Id. § 2246(2)(C). To establish an intent to commit an offense, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant (1) had the intent to commit the crime, and (2) engaged in conduct amounting to a `substantial step' towards the commission of the crime. United States v. Rosa, 11 F.3d 315, 337 (2d Cir.1993) (quoting United States v. Martinez, 775 F.2d 31, 35 (2d Cir.1985)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Putting these various legal rules together in the context of this case, it would suffice for conviction of the offense charged in this case for the government to prove that Crowley (1) intended to accomplish digital penetration of Vincent's genitals by force, with the purpose of sexually arousing either himself or Vincent, and (2) actually did take a substantial step toward accomplishing that goal.
22 Taking the issues in reverse order, assuming it was proved that Crowley intended to forcibly penetrate Vincent, there is no question whatsoever that he engaged in a substantial step toward completing that crime. The substantial step standard, which has been adopted by this Court as the test for the wrongful act element of federal attempt crimes, United States v. Stallworth, 543 F.2d 1038, 1040-41 (2d Cir. 1976), derives from the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code, where it represented the code drafters' proposed solution of the problem of framing criteria to determine when the actor has progressed sufficiently toward his criminal objective to have committed an attempt. Model Penal Code § 5.01 cmt. 6, at 329 (1985). The problem faced by the drafters was that to punish as an attempt every act done to further a criminal purpose, no matter how remote from accomplishing harm, risks punishing individuals for their thoughts alone, before they have committed any act that is dangerous or harmful; yet, if the law punished only the very last act necessary to accomplish the criminal result, legal intervention would be delayed to a point at which it may well be too late to prevent harm. The Model Penal Code test was designed to widen the ambit of attempt liability beyond the confusing and conflicting tests developed by common law courts, which generally set the dividing line between criminal attempts and mere preparatory conduct at the point where an actor came dangerously close to the completion of the crime. United States v. Ivic, 700 F.2d 51, 66 (2d Cir.1983) (Friendly, J.), overruled on other grounds, National Org. for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249, 114 S.Ct. 798, 127 L.Ed.2d 99 (1994). As this Court has defined it, [a] substantial step must be something more than mere preparation, yet may be less than the last act necessary before the actual commission of the substantive crime. United States v. Manley, 632 F.2d 978, 987 (2d Cir.1980). 23 Determining whether particular conduct constitutes a substantial step is so dependent on the particular factual context of each case that, of necessity, there can be no litmus test to guide the reviewing courts. Id. at 988. In this case, however, there can be no doubt that Crowley's acts, as described by Vincent, went far beyond any preparatory step, and sufficed to satisfy virtually any definition of the actus reus (wrongful act) of attempt. The jury was entitled to find that Crowley physically pinned Vincent to the bed and/or against the wall, pushed his hand inside her shorts, and put his hand on her vagina with a groping, gripping type of action. Tr. at 79. Indeed, Vincent expressly testified that Crowley tried but was not able to insert his finger, because she was resisting. Id. It is difficult to understand what further act Crowley could have performed toward the goal of forced penetration, short of actual completion of the crime. The evidence was thus sufficient to establish that Crowley's actions met and exceeded what is necessary to constitute a substantial step toward the completion of a forcible sexual act as defined in the statute.
24 With respect to the mens rea (wrongful state of mind) element, Crowley presents a closer question for the finder of fact, but no more difficult an issue for us. To satisfy the mental element of attempt, the government must prove that the defendant intended to engage in conduct constituting a crime — in this case, that Crowley intended to commit a sexual act by force. Crowley argues that his words as reported by Vincent sought (even begged or pleaded for) her permission to engage in sexual acts, and that, had he truly intended to compel her submission, he would have persisted with physical force which, he contends, would ultimately have succeeded. These are arguments that a jury could reasonably consider in assessing whether Crowley really intended to go through with a sexual act (as defined in the statute) against Vincent's will, or whether he planned to desist short of such acts if she continued to deny him permission to go further. 25 But the question of Crowley's intention is primarily one of inference from his actions, and thus one especially suited for resolution by a trial jury. See Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192, 203, 111 S.Ct. 604, 112 L.Ed.2d 617 (1991); United States v. Brandt, 196 F.2d 653, 657 (2d Cir.1952). The state of a person's mind is rarely susceptible to proof by direct evidence, and usually must be inferred from evidence of his or her acts, but it is no less a question of fact for that. See United States v. Chestnut, 533 F.2d 40, 48 (2d Cir.1976). Here, Vincent testified that Crowley placed his hand on her vagina and tried to insert his finger, but was prevented by her physical resistance. All of the sexual contact that Crowley did accomplish — fondling Vincent's breasts, pushing his hand inside her pants, and grabbing her genitals — was committed, according to the victim's testimony, over her express verbal objection and against her physical resistance, by means of physical force. The jury could legitimately reject Crowley's claim that he would inevitably have succeeded if he really intended to use force, given that the awkward space in which the struggle was going on — an elevated bunk to which Crowley only had access by climbing on a desk — surely helped to neutralize any advantage in physical strength he might have had, and thus facilitated Vincent's determined resistance. Crowley's intention was a genuine issue of fact for the jury to resolve, and it resolved the question against him. The evidence was sufficient to justify its conclusion. 26 Our assessment of this issue is bolstered by precedent. In United States v. Hourihan, 66 F.3d 458, 461 (2d Cir.1995), this Court affirmed a conviction for aggravated sexual abuse in violation of § 2241(a)(1) based on attempted forced fellatio, where the defendant, over his victim's objections, forcibly kissed her and rubbed her breasts, then attempted to physically force her to a kneeling position in proximity to his exposed penis, but desisted from his efforts in order to answer a telephone call. Contrary to Crowley's arguments, we see no meaningful distinction between this case and Hourihan. Crowley, like Hourihan, used physical force not only to make sexual contact with his victim over her objections, but also to force himself into position to accomplish a sexual act. Hourihan came no closer to accomplishing his goal of oral-genital intercourse than Crowley did to accomplishing his of digital penetration. And Hourihan, like Crowley, argued that he obviously did not attempt to force [his victim] into a sexual act because, if he had wanted to force her, he could have, given his size and strength as compared to hers. Id. at 462. 1 Yet this Court gave short shrift to his claim of insufficiency, holding that the jury could easily have found, on these facts, both that Hourihan had the necessary intent to compel a sexual act by force, and that he had taken a sufficiently substantial step toward accomplishing that goal. Id. The same result follows here. 2 27 One further word is appropriate. Crowley's argument that a jury could reasonably find that he voluntarily left the room without persisting further in the use of force suggests a claim not that he never intended to compel a sexual act, but rather that he at some point renounced the crime and abandoned that intent. American courts have historically divided over whether renunciation or abandonment of an attempt, after the defendant's actions have progressed far enough to establish liability, can ever constitute a defense. See Model Penal Code § 5.01 cmt. 8, at 356-58 & nn. 271-272 (1985) (collecting cases). The Model Penal Code's definition of attempt includes an affirmative defense of voluntary renunciation, which applies only when the actor abandon[s] his effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevented its commission, under circumstances manifesting a complete and voluntary renunciation of his criminal purpose, with the further stipulation that renunciation is not complete and voluntary if it is motivated by the unanticipated difficulty of accomplishing the objective, or by a desire to avoid detection or to defer the attempt to a different crime or another victim. Id. § 5.01(4). Most recently revised codes and proposals adopt a renunciation defense substantially similar to the Model Code's. Id. cmt. 8, at 360 & n. 279 (collecting statutes). 3 28 This Court has never directly addressed whether such a defense is included within the concept of attempt incorporated by Congress without definition into many criminal statutes, though it has frequently cited the Model Penal Code's analysis as persuasive in other respects, including in adopting the substantial step test itself. See, e.g., Ivic, 700 F.2d at 66; United States v. Jackson, 560 F.2d 112, 118-21 (2d Cir.1977); Stallworth, 543 F.2d at 1040. The only other circuits that have formally addressed the question have rejected the defense as a matter of federal law. See United States v. Shelton, 30 F.3d 702, 706 (6th Cir.1994); United States v. Bussey, 507 F.2d 1096, 1098 (9th Cir.1974). 29 But it is unnecessary to decide the question here. Crowley neither sought a jury instruction on this subject in the district court nor raised the argument here, and at oral argument he expressly disavowed reliance on any renunciation defense. Moreover, the facts here are hardly compelling ones on which to advance such a legal argument. Crowley came very near to completing his goal, and as the American Law Institute notes, much of the argument supporting a renunciation defense may prove unsatisfactory when the actor has proceeded far toward the commission of the contemplated crime. Model Penal Code § 5.01 cmt. 8, at 359 (1985). Even if the Model Penal Code's renunciation provision applied, the jury might well have concluded that Crowley's attempt was defeated not by a change of heart, but by Vincent's successful resistance and by Crowley's fears that further efforts as the day began to break would lead to detection. Under these circumstances, Crowley's failure even to raise the issue suggests a reasonable strategic choice that the defense was better off arguing that Crowley never had a criminal intent, rather than making the argument — novel in federal law, and perhaps lacking in jury appeal — that he began with a criminal purpose but abandoned it. 30 In short, the evidence in this case was more than sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find both the physical and mental elements of aggravated sexual assault by means of attempted forcible digital penetration. 4