Opinion ID: 2396152
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficient evidence on the issue of compulsion

Text: [¶ 10] The State charged that the victim submitted to Almurshidy as a result of compulsion in both the unlawful sexual contact, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 255(1)(H), and gross sexual assault, id. § 253(1)(A). Compulsion means the use of physical force, a threat to use physical force or a combination thereof that makes a person unable to physically repel the actor or produces in that person a reasonable fear that death, serious bodily injury or kidnapping might be imminently inflicted upon that person or another human being. Compulsion as defined in this paragraph places no duty on the victim to resist the actor. Id. § 251(E) (Supp.1998). [¶ 11] On the gross sexual assault, the victim testified that Almurshidy put her on the ground, got on top of her, and she was unable to repel him. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the jury rationally could have found that the victim submitted to the gross sexual assault as a result of compulsion. See State v. Reynolds, 604 A.2d 911, 913 (Me.1992) (victim's testimony that defendants held her down and she pushed them away and begged them to stop sufficient to establish compulsion). [¶ 12] While the evidence of compulsion on the unlawful sexual contact is not as strong as the evidence on the gross sexual assault, the jury rationally could have found that the victim submitted to the contact as a result of compulsion. The victim testified that she was up against a tree while Almurshidy touched her genitals with his hand. She testified that she was scared and that Almurshidy touched her even though she asked him not to. He did not stop until she pushed him, and he let go of her for a second. She pulled up her pants and sat down on a rock. From the victim's testimony, the jury could have reasonably inferred that Almurshidy held her against the tree or pushed her against it while he fondled her and for a brief period of time she was unable to get away from him. Furthermore, the fact that she was unable to repel him when he was on top of her shortly after the tree incident is probative of her inability to repel the unlawful sexual contact.