Opinion ID: 1059908
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Newby v. Commonwealth

Text: The victim in this case, D.C., [3] began a new job as a waitress/bartender at a restaurant in Chesterfield County on March 13, 1995. During that evening, she noticed George R. Newby, Jr., in the restaurant because he made several remarks to her about her marriage and appearance. When a co-worker announced that it was closing time, the remaining customers, including Newby, exited the restaurant. While D.C. cleaned up, the co-worker attempted to lock the door but had difficulty with the lock. Newby then re-entered the restaurant on the pretext of helping with the lock and remained until D.C. and the co-worker left. As D.C. walked to her car, Newby asked her if she would give him a ride home, and she agreed. Newby directed D.C. where to drive, and she eventually arrived in front of a building that Newby described as his club. D.C. testified that Newby then brought his left arm around her neck and started squeezing her. She honked her horn, but Newby told her to take her hand off the horn or he would kill her. D.C. testified that Newby held something with a sharp blade across her nose. Then, according to D.C., Newby forced her from the car and pulled her in the direction of some woods adjacent to the building. Newby forced D.C. to remove her clothes and lie flat on her back. He then put his penis in [her] vagina. Because her vaginal area was dry and unlubricated, Newby pulled his penis out of her vagina. D.C. testified that Newby next put his mouth on my vaginal area and he drooled and I know this because it was so cold, I could feel the heat.... When asked if Newby's mouth was specifically on her vaginal area, D.C. replied that he was on my vulva area. D.C. further testified that Newby put his penis back in her vagina and that he put his mouth on her genitalia at least twice. Newby forced D.C. to engage in sexually explicit conversation with him, and he eventually ejaculated inside her. Newby then returned D.C.'s clothes to her but threatened that he would kill her and her children if she told anybody about what he had done. According to D.C., Newby said, This isn't the first time that I raped and you better not be the first one to tell. Newby allowed D.C. to get dressed and return to her car, but she drove her car into a ditch. Newby tried unsuccessfully to help D.C. remove the car from the ditch. D.C. eventually walked to a gas station where she telephoned a friend. The friend and the police arrived shortly thereafter. At trial, Newby's defense was that D.C. consented to the sexual activity. In support of his defense, Newby testified, I did lick Mrs. [C.'s] vaginal area and I did penetrate her with my penis and have sex, but at no time did she say, `No,' did she say `Stop,' or anything. At the conclusion of the Commonwealth's evidence and at the close of all the evidence, Newby moved to strike the evidence on the basis that the Commonwealth had failed to prove penetration on the sodomy charge. The trial court overruled both motions. The jury convicted Newby of forcible sodomy. [4] The Court of Appeals of Virginia awarded Newby an appeal and affirmed his conviction of forcible sodomy in an unpublished opinion dated July 1, 1997. The Court of Appeals reasoned that the jury could have found that Newby's mouth penetrated D.C.'s vulva during the protracted assault and in the course of his effort to moisten her genitalia. Newby appeals.