Opinion ID: 1984141
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: r.i. gen. laws 11-37-1 (1985)

Text: Jacques claims that the statutory scheme under which he received the indictment R.I. Gen. Laws งง 11-37-1, 11-37-2(c), and 11-37-3 (1985), violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Jacques asserts that the definition of the term sexual penetration delegates unlimited discretion to the Attorney General and the courts to define the crime ... (Jacques' Application for Post-Conviction Relief at 3). The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that when interpreting statutes, the court will first give the statutory language its plain and ordinary meaning. State v. Markarian, 551 A.2d 1178, 1180 (R.I. 1988) (citing McGee v. Stone, 522 A.2d 211, 216 (R.I. 1987); State v. Gonsalves, 476 A.2d 108, 110 (R.I. 1984)). When there is no ambiguity in the statutory language, the plain meaning of such language is authoritative, and no further statutory construction is necessary. Id. at 1181 (citing State v. O'Rourke, 463 A.2d 1328, 1330 (R.I. 1983); Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce v. Hackett, 122 R.I. 686, 690, 411 A.2d 300 (1980)). The term sexual penetration is defined as follows: [S]exual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, and anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, by any object, by any part of a person's body or by any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, but emission of semen is not required. R.I. Gen. Laws ง 11-37-1(b)[(8)] (1985). This Court finds that the definition of sexual penetration is unambiguous and specific for the act of penetration. The Attorney General and the Court do not have unlimited discretion as to what constitutes the crime of sexual assault. When the Court instructs a jury or when the state seeks an indictment, neither may exercise any discretion because R.I.G.L. ง 11-37-1 specifically defines sexual penetration. See State v. Jacques, 536 A.2d 535, 538 (R.I. 1988). Jacques' allegations of the unconstitutionality of the statutory scheme that he was indicted and convicted under are meritless. See also State v. Jacques.