Court Opinion

ID: 9870297
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-26 19:53:49.188662+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:46:07.493503
License: Public Domain

Rita W. Gruber, Judge, concurring. I agree in all aspects with the majority’s rejection of appellant’s argument that the State failed to prove sexual gratification and with the holding that substantial evidence supports the appellant’s conviction for second-degree sexual assault. I write separately to express my dismay that the name of this young victim appears throughout appellant’s brief. The State’s brief refers to the victim by initials rather than name, yet the State has filed no motion to redact the juvenile’s name from the appellant’s brief. Rule 6-3 of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals requires counsel and the court to “preserve the juvenile’s anonymity” by using initials in all adoption appeals and appeals originating in the juvenile division of circuit court. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-3(a) (2016). Surely, absolute anonymity should also be afforded a juvenile who is the victim of a sexual crime.