Court Opinion

ID: 9735680
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:27:27.215467+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:00.853334
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE LINDBERG, dissenting in part: I dissent from the majority opinion to the extent that I do not believe defendant was proved guilty of rape beyond a reasonable doubt as a matter of law. I would affirm the trial court as to defendant’s other contentions of error. I would reverse defendant’s conviction for rape and reduce the degree of the offense to aggravated battery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 12 — 4(a)), and remand the cause for sentencing pursuant to our authority under Supreme Court Rule 615(b) (87 Ill. 2d R. 615(b)). The State’s proof of the commission of the offense of rape was largely through the testimony of the complaining witness. That proof establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s choking and striking of the victim was aggravated battery. However, there was no proof whatever that defendant possessed the necessary general mental state of intent to have intercourse forcibly and against the will of the female. Clearly, from the female’s standpoint, the act was forcible and against her will. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 11 — 1(a).) However, it is the mental state of the defendant that must be established. Rape requires proof of the defendant’s general intent to commit the offense. This is satisfied by proof of intent, knowledge or recklessness. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, pars. 4 — 3, 4 — 4, 4 — 5, 4 — 6, 11 — 1; People v. Farrokhi (1980), 91 Ill. App. 3d 421.) Rape is not an absolute liability offense. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 11 — 1(a); People v. McMullen (1980), 91 Ill. App. 3d 184.) The criminal intent must be a direct and specific intent to commit the offense charged. (People v. Connors (1912), 253 Ill. 266.) Criminal liability, with the exception of strict liability crimes, is dependent upon the simultaneous occurrence of defendant’s requisite mental state and the criminal act. People v. Taylor (1979), 68 Ill. App. 3d 680. Even an indecent assault, however aggravated, will not warrant conviction of assault with intent to commit rape without proof of an intention to have intercourse with a woman by force and against her will. (People v. Hiller (1955), 7 Ill. 2d 465; Barr v. People (1885), 113 Ill. 471.) While these cases relate to the offense of assault with intent to commit rape (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 8 — 4(a)), that offense includes every element of the crime of rape except penetration (People v. Stagg (1963), 29 Ill. 2d 415), and the same principle should therefore pertain to the mental state requirement of the defendant for forcible intercourse against the will of the female. The complaining witness’ testimony in this case reflects that she approached defendant in the tavern, hugged him, gave him a “peck” on the cheek and inquired if he knew of any parties. He knew of none but suggested they go to his apartment only one building removed from her apartment, and a short distance from the tavern. She purchased a six-pack of beer and they went to his apartment, turned on the music, and she had a beer while they sat on the couch. The majority opinion adequately describes the activities that then occurred and it is obvious and uncontradicted that she suffered a significant criminal battery and was restrained in her efforts to leave the apartment. Nonetheless, crediting her testimony completely, her evidence fails to show a nexus between the fight and defendant’s attack upon her and the act of intercourse so as to establish defendant’s criminal liability for the offense of rape. As the majority acknowledges, defendant never demanded intercourse although she maintained the intercourse was without her consent. She testified that after the fight she got up and went into the bedroom, took her clothes off and got into bed; defendant followed her into the bedroom and similarly disrobed and got into bed and, with no resistance by her, they had intercourse. She attributed her lack of resistance to being scared that he would choke her again or kill her. She was crying after the intercourse. He didn’t want her to leave, but she pleaded to go the bathroom, which he allowed her to do. He then fell asleep and she hurriedly grabbed her jeans and jacket and went home leaving her shoes behind. As the majority notes she called upon neighbors for help. She said she had been raped and the police were called. For the purpose of analysis and without denigrating the seriousness of the violent battery committed upon the complaining witness, her testimony suggests a play in three distinct acts. The first act took place on the couch and at the doorway, the second on the floor and the third in the bedroom. Further, the backdrop of all these activities in the apartment is her acknowledgement of their mutual intoxication. Her clear, convincing and unrebutted testimony establishes that while the couple was on the couch, he attempted intercourse with her and with some degree of force and against her will. While no intercourse resulted and they remained fully clothed, his genitals rubbed the front of her body and legs. Her resistance resulted in her flipping him onto the floor where they again came into contact. It was on the floor that the second act began which involved the battery. Significantly, during re-cross-examination the complaining witness specifically denied that defendant “insinuated by his body movement that he was interested in having intercourse *** during the time [they] were on the floor of the apartment.” Most importantly, she limits his insinuation of interest in intercourse to the first period of the evening in the apartment when they were on the couch, Act One. The complaining witness was asked on re-cross-examination: “Q. Ma’am, you said that the Defendant insinuated by his body movement that he was interested in having intercourse with you and that this was being done during the time that you were on the floor of the apartment, is that true?” and she answered: “A. No, that’s not correct. It was done the time that we were on the couch.” It is indisputable that the fight that took place, during Act Two, was unrelated to any interest by defendant in sexual intercourse with the complaining witness. The record reflects the following: “Q. When he was slapping you, was he doing anything to insinuate to you at that time that he wanted to have intercourse with you; did he say anything to that effect? A. No, he did not. * * * Q. After the fight was over, he did nothing to insinuate to you by his actions or by his words that he wanted to have intercourse with you, is that true? * * * THE WITNESS: That’s right.” This testimony proves that defendant’s intent to have forcible intercourse was limited to Act One, the time during which they were on the couch. The record is void of any evidence of defendant’s intention to have sexual intercourse forcibly and against the will of the complaining witness at the time they had sexual intercourse in the bedroom. Defendant tried unsuccessfully to establish that the fight was about the victim’s use of speed. She admitted having used speed but denied they fought that evening about her use of speed. We are left without a reason for the fight but, as the record demonstrates, it was not over his interest in having sexual intercourse with her. The State had earlier asked the complaining witness “[w]hat is the reason you walked in there [the bedroom] with him?” She answered “[b]ecause I was scared he would choke me again. I was actually scared that he was going to kill me.” Her testimony in this regard is what appears to make this case unique and perhaps explains the paucity of authority directly on point. That is, where the evidence establishes the victim had intercourse under threat of a battery not based upon defendant’s intent to have intercourse forcibly or against the victim’s will, does that evidence establish the requisite mental state of the defendant for the offense of rape? I believe not. In sum, the mental state of the victim was established by clear and convincing evidence that she was having intercourse forcibly and against her will. Her mental state, at least under these facts, cannot be ascribed to the defendant. The evidence does not establish that at the time of the act of intercourse defendant possessed an intention to have intercourse forcibly and against the will of the female.