State v. Jones

Facts

D, A.S., and Craig Carpenter had been friends for approximately fifteen years. In the spring of 2008 A.S. and Carpenter were engaged and had children together. Behind Carpenter's back D and A.S. had been having a sexual relationship for approximately four years. On May 22, 2008, D and A.S. decided they should end their affair. The next morning they engaged in consensual sex. A.S. went to the bathroom and when she returned to the bedroom D was on the computer looking at pornographic material. D sat down on the bed next to her and began to touch her. A.S. reacted saying, '[I] thought we had decided that the time before that was the last time and it wasn't going to happen anymore.' D stopped touching her, got up, and walked around behind her. A.S. got up on her elbows and saw that d was unfastening his pants. She protested that she did not want to engage in intercourse, but he 'leaned forward' and A.S. was 'pushed down . . . to where [she] couldn't get up' and her arms were pinned beneath her body. D moved A.S.'s underwear aside and had intercourse with her. D apologized to A.S., asked her if she was alright, and told her that she could 'press charges' if she wanted to because he was 'out of line' and had 'lost control.' A.S. called the Women's Center at Boise State University and spoke to a counselor. She was advised to call the police, which she did not do. She continued to be in contact with D. On May 27, D came to watch movies at A.S.'s residence. D slept on the couch and remained after Carpenter left for work and A.S.'s children left for school. A.S. was taking a prescribed anti-anxiety medication which caused her to experience marked drowsiness and had taken an over-the-counter antihistamine to treat a bee sting, which also caused her to feel drowsy. A.S. lay down on the couch in the living room, while Jones used the computer in her bedroom. Jones sat next to her, and began to stroke her hair. A.S. testified that D pulled her hair, but she pretended to be asleep. D then proceeded to engage in intercourse with her while she was lying on the couch and not moving. A.S. was 'paralyzed by fear' and did not resist or verbally protest. After the encounter, the two went to the bedroom and shared a cigarette. D assisted A.S. in getting into bed and again began to have sexual intercourse with her. There was no testimony by A.S. that she protested or asked D to stop during this second encounter, and he stopped on his own accord, stating 'Baby, I do have a problem.' He asked if they could resume having sex, which she refused. D eventually left the residence. A.S. drove to Carpenter's brother's house and told him and his girlfriend that D had raped her. They took A.S. to the hospital. She told staff that she had been sexually assaulted, but did not want to press any legal charges. Law enforcement officers were contacted and A.S. provided a statement to the police while at the hospital. In a recorded confrontation call, D apologized for both incidents. D admitted that he 'continued' with the sexual acts despite her telling him no in the first instance and her not responding in the second instance, and agreeing that, after the first instance, he sent her text messages 'promising [her] it wouldn't happen again.' It turns out that D was already on felony probation for domestic battery based on similar circumstances and that he would have to register as a sex offender based on A.S.'s allegations. A.S. also asked Jones to describe the 'bad things' that he had done in the past, to which he responded that he had 'hurt [M.C.]' and committed prior driving under the influence (DUI) offenses. D was charged with two counts of forcible rape. At trial, A.S. admitted that she had never informed police that she and D had been involved in a consensual sexual relationship for four years. She did not tell the police that she had engaged in consensual sex with D earlier in the day on May 22, and while she had shown officers text messages from D that she thought were incriminating, she did not reveal to the officers other text messages that she had sent to D indicating that she loved him and that would have revealed their past relationship. A.S. admitted that as of the time of trial she was still concealing her past sexual relationship with D from Carpenter. D cross-examined A.S. at length about a letter she had written in which she recanted her allegations of rape--which had been notarized and given to the prosecution prior to trial. In the letter, A.S. characterized the events forming the basis of her allegations of rape as a misunderstanding between her and D and asserted that D was being wrongfully charged. A.S. later sent the prosecutor another letter retracting her retraction and indicating her desire to go forward with the rape charges--a change of heart which she indicated was due to having undergone counseling. The nurse testified that A.S. appeared frightened, was crying, spoke in a soft tone of voice, did not make eye contact, and curled up in the fetal position after the examination. The nurse also testified that she found no physical findings of trauma consistent with rape during the examination, specifically that there was no evidence of bruising, scraping, or scratches anywhere on A.S.'s body. Detective Bob Chaney admitted that he did not examine any messages that A.S. sent to D--including those in which she expressed her love for D. He was also apparently still unaware that D and A.S. had been engaged in a four-year consensual sexual relationship and that the two had engaged in consensual sexual intercourse earlier on May 22. The detective also testified that no physical evidence of rape had been found after the completion and testing of the rape kit. D moved for a directed verdict because P failed to prove that A.S. resisted sexual intercourse and that her resistance was overcome by force. The district court denied the motion. D was convicted and appealed.

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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