State v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 22 February 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 1,No. 56783,56783,1 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Paul A. EDWARDS, Appellant |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., Gene E. Voigts, First Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Hammond C. Woods, Woods, Raymond & Raymond, Kansas City, for appellant.
Defendant was charged with the offense of statutory rape. See § 559.260. 1 Under the provisions of S.Ct. Rule 26.01(b), V.A.M.R., the defendant, with the assent of the court, waived a jury and was tried by the court. He was found guilty and his punishment was fixed at imprisonment for a term of two years. Defendant has appealed. We affirm.
The prosecutrix herein will be referred to by her given name, Lorena. On January 15, 1970, she was 14 years old and attended North Gate Junior High School in Clay County. On that day she and three of her classmates, Melody, Diane, and Connie left school without permission because it was Martin Luther King's birthday and some of the other schools were having a holiday. They went to Melody's home where they borrowed slacks from her and changed into them. They then got a ride into Kansas City and visited for a time at the home of one of Melody's friends. Melody stayed at her friend's home and the other three went to a nearby drugstore where Diane called defendant, who lived at Houston Lake in Platte County, and asked him to pick them up and take them back to school. None of the girls knew defendant, but Diane was dating a boy who spent considerable time at defendant's home, and she therefore had his telephone number. Defendant met the three girls and took them to his home so that they could change clothes because they were not permitted to get on the school bus wearing slacks. Lorena testified that after they arrived at defendant's home the girls changed their clothes in the bathroom; that defendant showed them a badge (which he had found) and said that he could turn them in because he was a juvenile officer; that they sat around and listened to records and defendant and each of the girls drank a can of beer; that she told Diane that she was kind of scared and nervous because they had 'played hooky' and Diane gave her two nerve pills which she took and which made her 'kind of dizzy'; that she said something about wanting to leave and defendant said that 'one of us was going to have to pay him for coming over and picking us up,' which she understood to mean that 'one of us was going to have sex with him'; that Diane said that she couldn't because she liked his best friend; that defendant then took her (Lorena's) hand and pulled or led her into the bedroom; that he then pushed her against the wall and started kissing her, after which he removed all of her clothes and all of his clothes, and they got on the bed; that defendant then made three efforts to get his sex organ into her vagina and was able to insert it about an inch; that because she was a virgin he finally stopped trying and told her that it was impossible for him to have intercourse with her; that after they dressed and came out of the bedroom he took them to meet the school bus. Lorena also testified that a couple of days later she told the girls who had been with her about what defendant had done in the bedroom; that she did not tell her mother until about a month later when they had to go see Mrs. Hook, the juvenile officer, about the fact that she had 'played hooky.'
Connie testified in the case and related the events of the day about the same as did Lorena. She also stated that defendant had said that one of them would have to pay him for having picked them up, which she understood meant 'having sex,' and that defendant then took Lorena by the hand and took her into the bedroom where they remained about 15 or 20 minutes; that when they came out defendant was combing his hair; that after they got on the bus Lorena told her something about having had intercourse with the defendant.
Defendant, who had been previously married and divorced, testified that he was 24 years old on the date in question; that he had had two-and-a-half years of college and had planned to be a minister, but at that time was not in school and was working nights at a filling station. He admitted that he had picked up the girls and had taken them to his home. He denied taking Lorena into the bedroom and stated that he never had intercourse with her. He did testify, however, that he pulled Lorena up from the divan where she was sitting and walked with her into the hallway where he put his arm around her and kissed her.
The contention of defendant on this appeal is that there was not sufficient believable evidence to support a finding of guilt and that the court should have found him not guilty.
State v. Haislip, Mo.Sup., 411 S.W.2d 81, 83. It is obvious that if the testimony of Lorena is true defendant is unquestionably guilty. Defendant says, however, that her testimony is contradictory and contrary to human experience and is...
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State v. Daniels, s. 56991
...had been returned by a jury and hence if there was substantial evidence to support the finding it should be affirmed. State v. Edwards, Mo.Sup., 476 S.W.2d 556. Both Clyde Carr and David Diley had a good opportunity to observe defendant at the time the offenses were committed. They each ide......
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State v. Mitchell
...evidence to show the impossibility of such a feat. The fact X was not examined by a doctor following the incident (cf. State v. Edwards, 476 S.W.2d 556, 559(1) (Mo.1972)) or that none of the binding material was offered into evidence does not, in our opinion, cast such doubt upon her testim......