State v. Alston

312 S.E.2d 470 (1984)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D and Cottie Brown, had been involved for approximately six months in a consensual sexual relationship. Brown testified that she and D had sexual relations throughout their relationship. Although she sometimes enjoyed their sexual relations, she often had sex with D just to accommodate him. On those occasions, she would stand still and remain entirely passive while D undressed her and had intercourse with her. At times their consensual sexual relations involved some violence. D had struck her several times throughout the relationship when she refused to give him money or refused to do what he wanted. Around May 15, 1981, D struck her after asking for money that she refused to give him. Brown left the apartment and moved in with her mother. She did not have intercourse with D after May 15 until the alleged rape on June 15. D called her several times and visited her at Durham Technical Institute where she was enrolled in classes. On June 15, 1981, Brown arrived at Durham Technical Institute by taxicab to find D standing close to the school door. D blocked her path as she walked toward the door and asked her where she had moved. Brown refused to tell. D grabbed her arm, saying that she was going with him. Brown testified that it would have taken some effort to pull away. Brown told D she would walk with him if he let her go. D then released her. She testified that she did not run away from him because she was afraid of him. She stated that other students were nearby. She and D then began a casually paced walk in the neighborhood around the school. When D and Brown left the parking lot, D threatened to 'fix' her face so that her mother could see he was not playing. Brown told D she wanted to go to class. He replied that she was going to miss class that day. They passed several people as they walked and talked. They went down a path close to a wooded area where they stopped to talk. D asked again where Brown had moved. She asked him whether he would let her go if she told him her address. D then asked whether the relationship was over and Brown told him it was. He then said that since everyone could see her but him, he had a right to make love to her again. Brown said nothing. They began walking towards a street they had walked down previously. D did not hold or touch Brown as they walked. D and Brown passed the same group of men they had passed previously. Brown did not ask for assistance because some of the men were friends of D, and she assumed they would not help. D and Brown continued to walk to the house of one of D's friends. When they entered the house, Taylor was inside. Brown sat in the living room, and D and Taylor went to the back of the house and talked. When asked at trial why she did not try to leave Brown replied, 'It was nowhere to go. I don't know. I just didn't.' D returned to the living room area and turned on the television. He attempted to fix a broken fan. Brown asked Taylor for a cigarette, and he gave her one. D eventually asked if Brown was 'ready.' The evidence tended to show that she told him 'no, that I wasn't going to bed with him.' She testified that she did not want to have sex with D and did not consent to do so at any time on June 15. D began kissing her neck. D eventually took off her pants and blouse. He told her to lay down on a bed which was in the living room. She complied, and D pushed apart her legs and had sexual intercourse with her. Brown testified that she did not try to push him away. She cried during the intercourse. D told her he wanted to make sure she was not lying about where she lived and that he would not let her up unless she told him. They left the house and went to D's mother's house. After talking with D's mother, Brown took a bus home. She talked with her mother about taking out a complaint against D but did not tell her mother she and D had had sex. Brown made a complaint to the police the same day. Afterward she refused to see D. He tried to have sex on another evening and performed oral sex on her, and she testified that she did not try to fight him off because she found she enjoyed it. The two stayed together until morning and had sexual intercourse several times that night. Brown did not disclose the incident to the police immediately because she said she was embarrassed. D put on no evidence and moved at the close of the State's evidence for dismissal of both charges based on insufficiency of evidence. The trial court denied the motions, and the majority in the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. D was convicted of second-degree rape and kidnapping. D appealed.