Opinion ID: 1666337
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statutory Rape as a Lesser Included Offense of Rape

Text: In State v. Burns, 6 S.W.3d 453, 466-67 (Tenn.1999), we adopted the following test for lesser-included offenses: An offense is a lesser-included offense if: (a) all of its statutory elements are included within the statutory elements of the offense charged; or (b) it fails to meet the definition in part (a) only in the respect that it contains a statutory element or elements establishing (1) a different mental state indicating a lesser kind of culpability; and/or (2) a less serious harm or risk of harm to the same person, property or public interest; or (c) it consists of (1) facilitation of the offense charged or of an offense that otherwise meets the definition of lesser-included offenses in part (a) or (b); or (2) an attempt to commit the offense charged or of an offense that otherwise meets the definition of lesser-included offenses in part (a) or (b); or (3) solicitation to commit the offense charged or of an offense that otherwise meets the definition of lesser-included offenses in part (a) or (b). Rape, the offense for which Stokes was indicted, is codified at Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-503(a): (a) Rape is unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or of the defendant by a victim accompanied by any of the following circumstances: (1) Force or coercion is used to accomplish the act; (2) The sexual penetration is accomplished without the consent of the victim and the defendant knows or has reason to know at the time of the penetration that the victim did not consent; (3) The defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless; or (4) The sexual penetration is accomplished by fraud. By contrast, statutory rape, the offense for which Stokes was convicted, requires sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or of the defendant by the victim when the victim is at least thirteen (13) but less than eighteen (18) years of age and the defendant is at least four (4) years older than the victim. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-506(a) (1997). Under part (a) of the Burns test, statutory rape is a lesser included offense of rape if all of the statutory elements of statutory rape are included within the statutory elements of rape. Statutory rape, however, contains an age element that is not included within the statutory elements of rape. Thus, statutory rape is not a lesser included offense of rape under part (a) of the Burns test. [2] We next examine whether statutory rape is a lesser included offense of rape under part (b) of Burns . Part (b) modifies part (a) by creating two exceptions to the requirement that all statutory elements of a lesser included offense must be included within the statutory elements of the offense charged. Under part (b), a lesser included offense may contain statutory elements establishing either a different mental state indicating a lesser kind of culpability or a less serious harm or risk of harm to the same person, property, or public interest. The age element of statutory rape does not establish either a different mental state indicating a lesser degree of culpability or a less serious harm or risk of harm to the same person. Consequently, statutory rape is not a lesser included offense of rape under part (b) of the Burns test. [3] Finally, it is patently obvious that part (c) of Burns does not apply as this case does not involve any of the inchoate offenses of attempt, facilitation or solicitation.