Court Opinion

ID: 9765370
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:01:21.864435+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:09.363616
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, concurring. I have some difficulty connecting the evidence of trench foot to whether the appellant was guilty of raping his nine-year-old daughter. However, for a number of reasons, I concur in the majority opinion. For one thing, the evidence strongly preponderates on the side of guilt. The enlarged and misshapen vagina of the victim showed telling signs of frequent penetration. The presence of gonorrhea bacteria in her throat reenforces that conclusion. The child herself made a credible witness and the examining physician testified repeatedly that there was no doubt that she had been sexually abused. In short, I am not persuaded there is any likelihood that the jury convicted the appellant based on evidence of trench foot rather than on the evidence of sexual abuse.