Court Opinion

ID: 9843789
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:43:21.084408+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:55.384381
License: Public Domain

KAPSNER, Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 39] I respectfully dissent. A rational factfinder could conclude the force incident to the nonconsensual sexual penetration is sufficient under the gross sexual imposition statute. I would affirm the district court’s judgment entered upon a guilty verdict.
[¶ 40] The essential issue raised by Vantreece on appeal is whether there is sufficient evidence of “force” to convict him of gross sexual imposition under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-20-03(l)(a), which provides:
1. A person who engages in a sexual act with another ... is guilty of an offense if:
a. That person compels the victim to submit by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on any human being.
“Force” is defined as “physical action.” N.D.C.C. § 12.1-01-04(11). Section 12.1-20 — 03(l)(a), N.D.C.C., is a statute of several alternatives. The State need not show any threat of death or serious bodily injury. The State needs to prove only force by “physical action.” The information in this case claimed Vantreece “ripped open a hole in the crotch of [the complainant’s] pants ..., tried to put his penis in her vagina, pulled off her pants, touched her vaginal area and then engaged in a sex act” with her.
[¶ 41] Under our standard of review for insufficiency of the evidence claims, this Court should uphold the jury verdict. The standard of review is well settled:
When we review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we only consider the evidence and reasonable inferences most favorable to the verdict to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction. State v. Bertram, 2006 ND 10, ¶ 5, 708 N.W.2d 913. “ ‘A conviction rests upon insufficient evidence only when, after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and giving the prosecution the benefit of all inferences reasonably to be drawn in its favor, no rational fact finder could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” Id. (quoting State v. Noorlun, 2005 ND 189, ¶ 20, 705 N.W.2d 819). We do not weigh conflicting evidence or judge witness credibility. Bertram, at ¶ 5.
State v. Zahn, 2007 ND 2, ¶ 13, 725 N.W.2d 894 (quoting State v. Buchholz, 2006 ND 227, ¶ 20, 723 N.W.2d 534). After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and giv*440ing the prosecution the benefit of all inferences reasonably to be drawn in its favor, a rational factfinder could have concluded Vantreece’s physical actions — tearing a hole in the complainant’s sleepwear, lubricating himself, forcing himself onto a woman whom he thought was asleep, and having nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her — met the legal requirements of N.D.C.C. § 12.1 — 20—03(l)(a).
[¶ 42] Although the majority relies on two cases which it describes as factually similar, neither is of much assistance or persuasion in deciding this case because of the legal dissimilarities between the applicable law under which they were decided and our law.
[¶ 43] In Jiminez v. State, 727 S.W.2d 789, 790 (Tex.Ct.App.1987), in which the conviction for sexual assault was reversed, the opinion makes no mention of a statutory definition of force. The court held it could “find no evidence in the record that appellant intentionally or knowingly used or threatened to use force or violence.” Id. at 792. In so holding, the court relied, not on its statutes, but on prior case law. Id. “The cases cited by the State do not allow this case to be affirmed because each involved express threats, the use of weapons, or both.” Id. By contrast, the jury in this case was instructed on the statutory definition of “force” in the North Dakota Century Code, which it appropriately applied and which the majority opinion appears to ignore.
[¶ 44] Even more problematic is reliance on People v. Patterson, 428 Mich. 502, 410 N.W.2d 733 (1987). Michigan has a statutory definition of force which is so dissimilar from the definition in N.D.C.C. § 12.1-01-04(11), that the case has no persuasive effect. Under the Michigan statute applied in Patterson:
Force or coercion includes but is not limited to any of the circumstances listed in section 520b(l)(f)(i) to (iv).
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The circumstances are:
(i) When the actor overcomes the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence.
(ii) When the actor coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use force or violence on the victim, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats.
(iii) When the actor coerces the victim to submit by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim, or any other person, and the victim believes that the actor has the ability to execute this threat. As used in this subdivision, “to retaliate” includes threats of physical punishment, kidnapping, or extortion.
(iv) When the actor engages in the medical treatment or examination of the victim in a manner or for purposes which are medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable.
People v. Patterson, 428 Mich. 502, 410 N.W.2d 733, 734-35 (1987).
[¶ 45] The effect of the majority opinion is to judicially import concepts of force similar to those in Michigan when the North Dakota legislature has explicitly indicated how the word is to be interpreted. The jury was provided with and applied the correct definition of the word.
[¶ 46] The majority concludes that for the State to convict, it must show Van-treece exerted force upon the complainant which compelled her to submit to having sex with him, and it “was not sufficient to prove Vantreece committed this crime with evidence that the complainant acquiesced in a sexual act with him because she ‘learned from the past’ to acquiesce in sexual advances without protest or resistance of any kind.” Majority, at ¶ 21.
*441[¶ 47] The majority’s position creates a dangerous legal precedent, either reintroducing the “resistance” requirement, requiring the State to prove the attacker’s extrinsic use of force overbore the victim’s will; or that the force used by the attacker must be so pervasive that it is self-evident the force was used to overcome the victim’s will. I strongly disagree. An attacker exhibits sufficient “force” by exerting the force necessary to penetrate a non-consenting victim. See, e.g., State v. Garron, 177 N.J. 147, 827 A.2d 243, 264 (2003); State v. Sedia, 614 So.2d 533, 535 (Fla.App.4 Dist.1993). The determination of whether force was used and whether that force was sufficient to compel the victim to engage in a sexual act is a jury issue, which should not be disturbed lightly. See State v. Barth, 2005 ND 134, ¶ 7, 702 N.W.2d 1. Further, gross sexual imposition is criminal because of the attacker’s conduct, not the victim’s resistance. See N.D.C.C. § 12.1-20-03(l)(a). Other jurisdictions have moved away from requiring resistance because it “ ‘may prove an invitation to danger of death or serious bodily harm.’ ” 2 Wayne R. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 17.4(a) (2d ed.2003) (quoting Model Penal Code § 213.1, cmt. at 305 (1980)). Finally, “ ‘it is wrong to excuse the male assailant on the ground that his victim failed to protect herself with the dedication and intensity that a court might expect of a reasonable person in her situation.’ ” Id.
[¶ 48] On this record, based on the jury verdict, I find it disturbing to even use the word “acquiesce” to describe the woman’s attitude to the sexual encounter. It suggests a woman pretending to be sleeping must do more in order not to be victimized. From the perpetrator’s perspective, a sleeping woman is not communicating consent, and should not be available to be victimized because she is “acquiescing.” There may be concern that sometimes intercourse which begins consensually can evolve into nonconsensual contact and “force” and “compulsion” may be more difficult to analyze in such circumstances. However, it is peculiarly the province of the jury to be the fact-finders and to analyze such matters. In this case, if the jury believed the statements of the woman, as it must have to reach the verdict it did, this woman did nothing to “acquiesce” in having intercourse. Intercourse would not have happened but for the action of Van-treece. She was compelled to have intercourse solely by virtue of the physical action of Vantreece forcing his penis into her vagina. Given the plain language of our statute and the jury instructions given, the jury analyzed the evidence and came to a verdict that is concordant with our statute.
[¶ 49] There is sufficient evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, to support Vantreece’s conviction of gross sexual imposition. I would affirm the district court’s judgment.
[¶ 50] MARY MUEHLEN MARING, JJ., concur.