State v. Harbert.
| Decision Date | 11 March 1915 |
| Docket Number | No. 1698.,1698. |
| Citation | 147 P. 280,20 N.M. 179 |
| Parties | STATEv.HARBERT. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court.
Proof of penetration alone is sufficient to establish the crime of rape.
Appeal from District Court, Chaves County; McClure, Judge.
W. P. Harbert, convicted of the crime of statutory rape, appeals. Affirmed.
Proof of penetration alone is sufficient to establish the crime of rape.
W. W. Gatewood, of Roswell, and R. L. Graves, of Brownfield, Tex., for appellant.
F. W. Clancy, Atty. Gen., and Ira L. Grimshaw, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
The defendant was convicted of statutory rape under the provisions of section 1090, Comp. Laws 1897. The state's case depended upon the credibility given by the jury to the testimony of the complaining witness, who was 13 years of age, and two other young girls, aged 11 and 12. While it may be true, as urged upon us, that young females are more often guilty of the crime of false accusation than other individuals of the species, yet this objection is one directed solely to their credibility as witnesses, and therefore necessarily within the province of the jury and the trial judge. After carefully scrutinizing the entire record, we can say that the statements of these witnesses do not bear the badge of fiction, and that there is nothing in the case as to the condition or situation of the persons involved, nor in the circumstances and setting of the transaction, which raises any suspicion that the defendant was victimized.
The court's instruction No. 11 that penetration only was sufficient to constitute a rape correctly stated the law.
The other errors assigned by appellants have all been considered and adjudged not to be well taken.
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
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State v. Massey, 5698
...and, if we are correct in this view, then this opinion is further fortified by the holding of this court in the case of State v. Harbert, 1915, 20 N.M. 179, 147 P. 280, in which case this court speaking through District Judge M. C. Mechem in a very brief opinion, opined in two lines as foll......
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State v. Neville.
...character, the court will not disturb a verdict based on substantial evidence. State v. Ancheta, 20 N.M. 19, 145 P. 1086; State v. Harbert, 20 N.M. 179, 147 P. 280. Appellant's principal contention seems to be that the evidence falls short of showing an intention to commit rape. We believe ......
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State v. Salazar
...rule concerning rape is discussed). He also agrees that 'penetration only was [is] sufficient to constitute a rape * * *.' State v. Harbert, 20 N.M. 179, 147 P. 280; see also State v. Godwin, 51 N.M. 65, 178 P.2d By pointing to the evidence supporting his position, he would minimize the add......