Court Opinion

ID: 9863222
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:15:12.293848+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:38:53.472969
License: Public Domain

DORSEY, Justice
dissenting.
I do not think the jury, under the indictment and instructions of the law it was given, could have found Appellant guilty with the evidence it was presented. Accordingly, I dissent and would reverse and order an acquittal.
The charge was that appellant intentionally penetrated the vagina of the victim without her consent. There is no dispute that he intentionally penetrated her vagina; similarly there is no question that she consented to a pelvic examination and the penetration of a patient’s vagina is how such an examination is done. All agree that the complainant consented to appellant’s penetration of her vagina.
The evidence relied on to support the conviction are the actions of the appellant while conducting the examination; largely while his hand was inside the patient that he touched her unnecessarily while in her vagina and that the examination took longer than it should have. As repugnant and unprofessional as those activities are, I do not find they constitute evidence of the particular crime charged. In particular, the patient consented to appellant’s penetration of her vagina.
The majority argues that although the patient consented to a vaginal examination, and thus consented to appellant’s penetration of her, her consent was limited to that which was necessary for the examination. When he went beyond that which was necessary, he committed sexual assault because he exceeded that to which she consented. However, that is not the crime with which he was charged.
At the time he placed his hand in her, he had her consent to do so. There is no evidence that she withdrew her consent and the penetration continued.
Given this evidence and charged offense, I must hold the conviction is not supported by the evidence. I would reverse and order an acquittal.