State v. Requena, 84,942 [1].
| Decision Date | 02 November 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 84,942 [1].,84,942 [1]. |
| Citation | 41 P.3d 862,30 Kan. App.2d 200 |
| Parties | STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. ADRIAN M. REQUENA, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Sandra Carr, assistant appellate defender, and Jessica R. Kunen, chief appellate defender, for appellant.
Jan Satterfield, county attorney, and Carla J. Stovall, attorney general, for appellee.
Before RULON, C.J., GREEN, J., and PADDOCK, S.J.
Adrian M. Requena was convicted by a jury of rape. Requena was charged under the theory that he had sexual intercourse with J.C. when she was incapable of giving consent because of her medical conditions or because of the effects of her medications or both, which conditions were known by Requena or were reasonably apparent to him. K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-3502(a)(1)(C). Requena argues on appeal that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction because J.C. clearly understood the nature and consequences of her sexual intercourse with him and consented to it. Moreover, Requena maintains that he was unaware or it was not apparent to him that J.C. lacked the capacity to consent. In addition, he contends that the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury on the meaning of "incapable of giving consent." Finally, he contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to consider his motion for new trial. We disagree and affirm.
J.C. was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in July 1989. She also suffered from fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease, mitrovalve prolapse, gout, and alcoholism. She had experienced paralyzing depression since 1995, and she had extreme fatigue and memory loss.
In August 1998, Susan Andrey moved in with J.C. because J.C.'s conditions were deteriorating and she needed help with driving, bathing, and other household chores.
J.C. and Andrey became acquainted with Requena at the 12step program at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in the winter of 1998. J.C. and Requena played cards with other friends at the fellowship, and they watched videos together at J.C.'s house. J.C. considered Requena to be her friend. J.C. testified he was very helpful to her; he drove her to see friends, fixed her son's car, and took care of her cat while she was gone. J.C. was 49 and Requena was 31 years old, and there was no physical intimacy or sexual relationship between them.
In March 1999, J.C. was taking various medications, including Prozac and Remeron, a sleeping medication. On March 26, 1999, J.C. and Andrey went to Burger King for dinner and to the American Legion for bingo games. During the bingo game, J.C. took a Remeron tablet. J.C. fell asleep at the bingo table. Andrey waited until the crowd of bingo players had left, and then she helped J.C. to the car.
Andrey and J.C. went home at approximately 10 p.m., and Andrey put J.C. in a chair, where she fell asleep. Andrey then took J.C. to her bedroom, but J.C. could not take off her jeans because they were tight. They decided J.C. would just have to sleep in her clothes. When Andrey left the room, J.C. was wearing a T-shirt, sweatshirt, jeans, and socks.
The next thing that J.C. remembered was Andrey asking her, "What was Adrian doing naked in your bed this morning?" J.C. replied, "Adrian, are you sure you don't mean Robert?" This conversation occurred about 10 a.m. J.C. realized Robert was in a halfway house in Wichita, so it could not have been him; she was puzzled but went back to sleep. She woke up close to noon and went to the bathroom. She was surprised that she had on only her T-shirt and nothing else. J.C. had general soreness in the vaginal area, and her thighs were a little more sore than normal.
Andrey went to an AA meeting that night and returned around 9:30 p.m. J.C. was awake, and they talked about the incident. J.C. decided to report it to the police and to go to the hospital for a rape exam.
J.C.'s memory began to resurface during the rape exam and an interview with Officer Tim Baker. J.C. recalled having oral sex performed on her and having a penis in her vagina accompanied by quite a bit of pain. She further recalled having her legs around the man and, feeling the back of his head, saying, "Oh, Robert, you didn't cut your braid off, did you?"
Requena was charged with rape and aggravated burglary. At trial, Diana Schunn, a registered nurse who examined J.C., testified J.C.'s injuries were "consistent with blunt penetrating trauma that we typically see in history of sexual assault." Stephen Greer, a mutual friend of J.C. and Requena, testified he received a letter from Requena which stated:
Requena did not testify or present any other witnesses on his behalf.
Requena was found guilty of rape—sexual intercourse with J.C. when she was incapable of giving consent because of mental deficiency or disease or when she was incapable of giving consent because of the effect of any alcoholic liquor, narcotic, drug, or other substance, which condition was known by the offender or was reasonably apparent to the offender. See K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-3502(a)(1)(C).
After the jury convicted Requena of rape, he moved for a new trial. The trial court, however, determined that because the motion had been filed late, it had no jurisdiction to consider the motion.
Requena argues on appeal that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction for rape because J.C. clearly understood the nature and consequences of her sexual intercourse with him and consented to it. Moreover, Requena asserts that he was unaware or it was not apparent to him that J.C. lacked capacity to consent.
When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, the standard of review is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Mason, 268 Kan. 37, 39, 986 P.2d 387 (1999).
Incapacity to consent
In State v. Chaney, 269 Kan. 10, 5 P.3d 492 (2000), the single issue was whether there was sufficient evidence to support Chaney's rape conviction under K.S.A. 21-3502(a)(1)(C) (). Our Supreme Court found there was sufficient evidence the victim was both psychologically and physiologically impaired due to the effects of alcohol, disagreeing with an earlier determination by the Court of Appeals that a rape victim would have to be intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness to be unable to consent. 269 Kan. at 19-20.
Requena points to several facts which he asserts are inconsistent with a finding of J.C.'s lack of capacity to consent: (1) J.C. maintained significant control over her own life, and she had never been declared incompetent; (2) J.C. controlled her own medications; and (3) J.C. was found to be competent to testify over defense objection. Requena further argues that J.C. had experienced varying stages of consciousness and lucidity and that no evidence was presented that J.C. was actually unconscious or incapacitated at the time of the alleged incident.
According to Chaney, unconsciousness is not required to show inability to consent. 269 Kan. at 19. Furthermore, from the evidence presented, the jury could have concluded that because of the effects of J.C.'s various medications and because of her worsening medical condition, these circumstances prevented her from consenting to sex. The Chaney court stated that we should give great deference to such a finding. 269 Kan. at 20.
Moreover, it is a non sequitur to conclude from the premise, based on factors 1, 2, and 3, cited earlier by Requena, that therefore J.C. had the capacity to consent to sexual intercourse at the particular time it began. Such a conclusion is unjustified by the premise. J.C. could have possessed all the qualities mentioned under these factors, yet still not have had the capacity to consent when Requena commenced the act of sexual intercourse with her. As a result, this argument fails.
The rape conviction under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-3502(a)(1)(C) requires a finding that Requena was aware or that it was reasonably apparent to him that J.C. lacked capacity to consent. Requena argues there was not sufficient evidence to establish this knowledge.
Requena claims it is "entirely possible, based upon the evidence presented, that J.C. gave every appearance of being fully conscious and actively participating in consensual sex even though she was not fully conscious at the time." However, Requena has failed to acknowledge a possible alternative scenario. It is entirely possible, based on the evidence presented, that Requena was aware of J.C.'s confused mental condition or that because of her condition, it was reasonably apparent to him that she did not have the capacity to consent to having sex with him.
J.C.'s own testimony shows that she...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Ibarra
... ... 65-7006(a), a severity level 1 drug felony statute under which he was convicted, and K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3), which prohibits ... ...
-
State v. Causbie
...abuse its discretion by declining to define the phrase further via defendant's alternative jury instruction. Cf. State v. Requena , 30 Kan.App.2d 200, 41 P.3d 862, 866 (2001) (Kansas statutory term “ ‘incapable of giving consent’ is one which people of common intelligence and understanding ......
-
State v. Cummings
..." State v. Patton, 33 Kan.App.2d 391, 396, 102 P.3d 1195 (2004), rev. denied 279 Kan. 1009 (2005) (quoting State v. Requena, 30 Kan.App.2d 200, 206, 41 P.3d 862 [2001] ). As noted above, Cummings does not claim it was necessary to define "reasonable probability" in terms of a statistical pe......
-
Requena v. State
...rape in December 1999. The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, and we denied Requena's petition for review. State v. Requena , 30 Kan. App. 2d 200, 41 P.3d 862 (2001), rev. denied 273 Kan. 1039 (2002). A few years later, Requena filed his first pro se K.S.A. 60-1507 motion, arguing th......