Court Opinion

ID: 9790399
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:52:32.602148+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:28.836549
License: Public Domain

Lockett, J.,
concurring and dissenting: I respectfully dissent from the majority’s expansion of the finding in State v. Moppin, 245 Kan. 639, 783 P.2d 878 (1989), that oral-genital stimulation by the tongue of the male, without penetration, of the female external sex organ is not included in the definition of sodomy found in K.S.A. 21-3501(2).
The elements of sodomy and ways that the crime of sodomy may be committed have varied with the terms used by the legislature in defining the offense. Sodomy was originally defined as “a crime against nature.” G.S. 1868, ch. 31, § 231 stated, “Every person who shall be convicted of the detestable and abominable crime against nature, committed with mankind or with beast, shall be punished by confinement and hard labor not exceeding ten years.” In 1969 the legislature expanded “the crime against nature” by enacting the offense of sodomy. K.S.A. 21-3505 (Weeks). The offense of sodomy was defined as “oral or anal copulation between persons who are not husband and wife or consenting adult members of the opposite sex, or between a person and an animal, or coitus with an animal.” In 1983 the legislature again expanded the crime of sodomy. K.S.A. 21-3501(2) states:
“ ‘Sodomy’ means oral or anal copulation; oral or anal copulation or sexual intercourse between a person and an animal; or any penetration of the anal opening by any body part or object. Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to constitute sodomy.”
*229Aggravated criminal sodomy is sodomy with a child who is not married to the offender and is under the age of 16 years. K.S.A. 21-3506.
In Moppin, the defendant claimed (1) that the State failed to prove penetration, and (2) it failed to prove oral copulation. After reviewing the trial record, we found that there was no evidence that the defendant had inserted his tongue into the child’s sex organ, i.e., no penetration, no crime of sodomy.
The court then entered into a scholarly discussion of whether cunnilingus is sodomy. The court discovered:
“Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 1701 (1989), defines ‘sodomy’ as ‘[a]nal intercourse, usually between males.’ Black’s Law Dictionary 1563 (4th ed. 1968), defines ‘sodomy’ as ‘[a] carnal copulation by human beings with each other against nature, or with a beast.’ The entry further explains that, although strictly speaking sodomy means anal penetration between two males, it has been extended to include anal penetration of a woman or copulation with an animal. It has also been extended to mean penetration of the mouth by the penis. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2165 (1976) defines sodomy as ‘camal copulation with a member of the same sex or with an animal; nonconsensual copulation with a member of the opposite sex; specif: the penetration of the male sex organ into the mouth or anus of another.’
“As stated, K.S.A. 21-3501 defines sodomy in pertinent part as ‘oral or anal copulation.’ Taber’s defines copulation as ‘sexual intercourse,’ as does Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.” 245 Kan. at 643.
The court “concluded that cunnilingus is not an act of ‘sodomy’ as the term is defined by statute, . . . and that there was insufficient evidence to establish oral copulation.” [Emphasis added.] Moppin, 245 Kan. at 644. Therefore, Moppin determined that cunnilingus was not sodomy, then recognized that the legislature had enlarged the crime of sodomy to include “oral copulation,” but without proof of penetration of the female sex organ by the tongue, there was insufficient evidence to convict Moppin of that offense.
It has been determined that the “crime against nature,” as contemplated by a statute relating to sex perversion, is the perverted act of uniting the mouth of one participant with the sexual organ of the other, with a view of gratifying sexual desire, and a mere kiss or lick of the private organ, even though lewdly done, is not a “copulation” within the statute. Cal. Penal Code § 288a *230(West 1988). The word “copulate has had primarily an unvarying significance, to wit, the act of gratifying sexual desire by the union of the sexual organs of two biological entities.” People v. Angier, 44 Cal. App. 2d 417, 419, 112 P.2d 659 (1941).
Our legislature intended that one of the methods of committing the crime of sodomy was by oral copulation. The word “copulation” has never had the meaning of mere contact and has always had the significance of the verb “to couple,” which' is an English derivative of the Latin “copulare,” translated as “to couple, join, unite, band or tie together.” The Latin noun “copula” is translated as “that which joins together, as a band, tie or leash.” The English word “copulation” has no other significance than that of uniting in sexual intercourse, and its popular significance is the union of the sexes in the generative act. People v. Angier, 44 Cal. App. 2d at 419.
In order to commit the crime of oral copulation, the sodomy statute requires that the sex organ of at least one of the parties must be involved. The sex organ may be either the male or female sex organ. Oral copulation — construed as sodomy — includes cunnilingus, if the tongue penetrates the female sex organ, and fellatio, if the male sex organ penetrates the mouth.
Miller, C.J., joins the foregoing concurring and dissenting opinion.