This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

The seventeen-year-old complainant accompanied her friend, Dawn Marty, to a party. Marty and the complainant left the party to drive D, whom they had just met and who was without a car, to his apartment. D invited them into the communal kitchen area of his apartment complex. The complainant consumed half a cooler of wine. Two men came to the apartment building looking for another tenant, and D invited them to meet his 'female friends.' The complainant next remembered that she was with D and Marty in the bathroom, where D 'was trying to grope' at her, and he touched her breast underneath her shirt. The complainant stepped back but did not leave because Marty was standing against the door, watching. The complainant did not tell D to stop or express any words to that effect. When D attempted to touch Marty, Marty left the bathroom, and the complainant followed her to the kitchen. The complainant wanted to leave with Marty, but Marty told her to stay. The next thing the complainant remembered was being in the bathroom with D, who told her to get undressed and come to the kitchen area. The complainant was afraid that D would hurt her, so she walked naked to D and the two men in the kitchen. The three men laughed and smirked at her, and D told her to bend over a chair. The complainant testified that D 'poked' her genital area as she was bent over the chair. The complainant testified that she did not tell D to stop; she stated that she was afraid and had tears in her eyes when she was bending over the chair. When Marty was heard returning to the apartment after getting food, D told the complainant to get dressed. The complainant ran to the bathroom. The complainant took Marty aside and told her what had happened, and asked that they leave. Marty declined to leave. Instead, Marty and the two men left the complainant alone with D in the apartment. The next thing the complainant remembered was that D raped her in his bedroom. The jury acquitted D of third-degree criminal sexual conduct (sexual penetration using force or coercion) with respect to the alleged rape but found him guilty of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct (sexual contact using force or coercion) with respect to the incidents in the bathroom and the kitchen. D appealed, contending the evidence was insufficient to establish 'force or coercion,' which is required to convict of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

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