State v. French, 23-80
| Decision Date | 03 February 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 23-80,23-80 |
| Citation | 428 A.2d 1087,139 Vt. 320 |
| Parties | STATE of Vermont v. Michael A. FRENCH. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Mark J. Keller, Chittenden County State's Atty., Susan R. Via, Deputy State's Atty., and Alvin E. Dunnem, Law Clerk (on the brief), Burlington, for plaintiff.
Sylvester & Maley, Burlington, for defendant.
Before BARNEY, C. J., LARROW, BILLINGS and HILL, JJ., and SMITH, J. (Ret.), Specially Assigned.
The defendant, Michael French, appeals a judgment of conviction for kidnapping entered pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 2401. On March 26, 1979, he and a companion offered the complaining witness a ride from the train station to her school. She voluntarily entered the car and was driven several miles to the vicinity of the school. Although she requested that she be dropped at the school, the defendant continued past that point and only stopped the car approximately a mile thereafter on a remote dirt road. At that point, the complaining witness again requested that she be allowed to leave the vehicle. Her request was again denied. Both men then had sexual intercourse with her before eventually dropping her at her school as originally requested.
French was charged with both sexual assault and kidnapping, but was convicted only on the kidnapping charge. He made motions for judgment of acquittal both at the conclusion of the State's case and at the close of the trial. Both motions were denied. The basis for the motion was that the confinement, if any, was merely incidental to the sexual assault. It is from the denial of this motion that the appeal has been taken.
The defendant cites the cases of People v. Levy, 15 N.Y.2d 159, 204 N.E.2d 842, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793 (1965), and People v. Lombardi, 20 N.Y.2d 266, 229 N.E.2d 206, 282 N.Y.S.2d 519 (1967), among others, for the proposition that the kidnapping conviction should be reversed as incidental to the primary rape charge. In so doing, we feel that he misconstrues the principle involved. In each of these cases, convictions on both the kidnapping charge and the primary charge to which the kidnapping was alleged to have been incident were obtained. They stand for the proposition that convictions for both crimes will not stand where the detention necessary to support the kidnapping conviction was quantitatively no greater than the detention which is, by virtue of the nature of the crime, incidental to the underlying rape or robbery. This principle has no application to a situation in which no conviction was obtained for the underlying crime. In such a situation, the kidnapping, if proven in every element, can stand on its own.
The standard of review for a denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal is whether the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, reasonably supports the jury's finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Bourassa, 137 Vt. 62, 68-69, 399 A.2d 507, 512 (1979). The kidnapping stat...
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State Of Conn. v. Kitchens
...rule inapplicable [when] trial court granted defendant's motion for directed verdict on underlying assault charge); State v. French, 139 Vt. 320, 321, 428 A.2d 1087 (1981) (incidental rule inapplicable [when] defendants acquitted of sexual assault)....'' (Citation omitted.) State v. Winot, ......
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State v. Robinson
...kidnapping and underlying crime could be merged even when defendant has been acquitted of underlying charge); State v. French, 139 Vt. 320, 428 A.2d 1087, 1088 (1981) (noting merger of crimes has no application to a situation in which no conviction was obtained on the underlying crime). The......
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State v. Kitchens
...rule inapplicable [when] trial court granted defendant's motion for directed verdict on underlying assault charge); State v. French, 139 Vt. 320, 321, 428 A.2d 1087 (1981) (incidental rule inapplicable [when] defendants acquitted of sexual assault)...." (Citation omitted.) State v. Winot, s......
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State v. Winot
...rule inapplicable where trial court granted defendant's motion for directed verdict on underlying assault charge); State v. French, 139 Vt. 320, 321, 428 A.2d 1087 (1981) (incidental rule inapplicable where defendants acquitted of sexual assault); but see People v. Gonzalez, 80 N.Y.2d 146, ......