Evans v. State
Decision Date | 16 July 1942 |
Docket Number | 29381. |
Citation | 21 S.E.2d 336,67 Ga.App. 631 |
Parties | EVANS v. STATE. |
Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
H F. Rawls, of Nahunta, for plaintiff in error.
Dave M. Parker, Sol. Gen., of Waycross, for defendant in error.
The evidence in this case presents a most horrible situation. It would serve no good purpose to detail it here. The jury found the defendant guilty of assault with intent to rape. We think the evidence overwhelmingly supports the finding. To our mind it shows beyond peradventure that the white woman whom the negro man attacked was unconscious from excessive use of intoxicating liquor.
There are three elements constituting this offense: (1) Unlawful assault; (2) Intent to have carnal knowledge of a female, and (3) Forcibly and against her will. As to the first two there seems to be no dispute. Regarding the third, it is rape to have sexual intercourse with an imbecile female. Gore v State, 119 Ga. 418, 46 S.E. 671, 100 Am.St.Rep. 182. To the same effect, see Smith v. State, 161 Ga. 421, 131 S.E. 163; Brown v. State, 138 Ga. 814, 76 S.E. 379. In the Gore case, 119 Ga. 418, 46 S.E. 672, 100 Am.St.Rep. 182, Judge Cobb, speaking for the court and a full bench except Judge Simmons (who was absent), says:
As previously stated we will not detail the evidence, but the whole setting as revealed by the evidence shows that the female was unconscious. Aside from the gruesome details, one witness testified: The sheriff, who was called and who arrived at the scene before the conduct of the accused terminated, testified:
To reverse the conviction under the evidence in this case would be, in our opinion, to hold that rape may not be committed upon a female who is unconscious at the time from the use of intoxicating liquors. We have no quarrel with our colleague who interprets the evidence differently. The judge approved the verdict. We think this judgment should be affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
"In order to find a prisoner guilty of an assault with intent to commit a rape, the jury must be satisfied that the prisoner when he laid hold of the [woman], not only desired to gratify his passion upon her person, but that he intended to do so at all events, and notwithstanding any resistance on her part." McNair v. State, 53 Ala. 453, 455. If the intention of the accused was to desist as soon as he found that the woman would not consent, he was not guilty of an assault with intent to rape. Taylor v. State, 50 Ga. 79. It is the settled law in this State that without force, either actual or constructive, there can be no rape. ...
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The Georgia Roundtable Discussion Model: Another Way to Approach Reforming Rape Laws
...235, 236 (Ga. 1973), and that a victim who is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol may be incapable of consent, see, e.g., Evans v. State, 21 S.E.2d 336, 337 (Ga. 1942). [173]. See Spohn & Horney, Grassroots Revolution, supra note 4, at 160; see also Wickton, supra note 10, at 405. [174]. Equa......