Opinion ID: 2403152
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Refusal to instruct the jury in manner requested

Text: The defendant contends the presiding justice erred by refusing to give his requested instructions numbers two and three. [6] Requested instruction two reads in full: In order to find that the Defendant had sexual intercourse with the complainant by force and against her will you must find that the Defendant intentionally or knowingly used physical force against the complainant, knowing that she did not consent, to compel the act of intercourse. Requested instruction three reads: If you find that [the complainant] submitted to intercourse with the Defendant as the result of statements or threats made by him to her, and not as the result of physical force, then you shall find the Defendant not guilty of the offense with which he is charged. If the jury is otherwise adequately instructed on a point of law, the trial justice may decline to give a requested instruction. State v. Mylon, 462 A.2d 1184, 1187 (Me.1983); State v. Bessey, 423 A.2d 244, 245 (Me.1980). Moreover, the presiding justice may properly refuse to give an instruction which is not an accurate statement of the law. State v. Bennett, 416 A.2d 720, 723 (Me.1980). We find no error in the court's refusal to give either instruction. In State v. Saucier, 421 A.2d 57 (Me.1980), we examined the overall statutory structure of the sex offense provisions in the criminal code and concluded that Class C gross sexual misconduct, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 253(2)(B) (Pamph.1979), silent as to a mental state requirement, imports no culpable state of mind. The rationale underlying our decision in Saucier is also applicable here, and disposes of the defendant's argument that the presiding justice erred in refusing to give requested instruction number two. Chapter 11 of the criminal code provides a coherent classification of sex offenses, in which certain crimes are defined to expressly include a culpable state of mind, [7] and others are not. The more forceful or egregious sexual conduct, including rape compelled by force, is defined without reference to the actor's state of mind. The legislature, by carefully defining the sex offenses in the criminal code, and by making no reference to a culpable state of mind for rape, clearly indicated that rape compelled by force or threat requires no culpable state of mind. As we reasoned in Saucier, one person cannot accidentally or innocently compel another to submit to sexual intercourse. See State v. Saucier, 421 A.2d at 59. The refusal to give requested instruction number three similarly presents no error. The instruction given by the court adequately conveyed to the jury it must find that the physical force used by the defendant was sufficient to cause and did in fact cause the complainant to submit to sexual intercourse against her will. The court's instruction was proper, and the defendant has no cause to complain. The entry is: Judgment affirmed.