Burton v. State

426 A.2d 829, 1981 Del. LEXIS 279
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedFebruary 9, 1981
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 426 A.2d 829 (Burton v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burton v. State, 426 A.2d 829, 1981 Del. LEXIS 279 (Del. 1981).

Opinion

*831 HERRMANN, Chief Justice.

The defendant, William D. Burton, was found guilty of two counts of rape in the second degree, 11 Del.C. § 763, 1 and one count of kidnapping in the first degree, 11 Del.C. § 783A(4). 2 He received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for the kidnapping, to be served consecutively with two ten-year terms for the rape convictions. The main ground of this appeal is the contention that it is unjust and unlawful to convict and punish the defendant for both rape and kidnapping on the facts of this case.

I.

Shortly before three o’clock in the afternoon, the defendant, age 20, and the victim met as they left school. The victim, age 15, agreed to accompany the defendant to a vacant building nearby to see where he “stashed” his marijuana, so that she could help sell it for him. The victim described the building as follows: it had two rooms, one which she referred to as the “front” room, and another which she called the “back” room, and an area in between, which she referred to as the “hall” or “middle” area; there was a front entrance, a back entry from an alley, and a curtained front window; the only furnishings were an abandoned refrigerator and some drawers located in the “middle” area. Although the sizes of the rooms were not specified in the record, it appears that there was not a great distance between the front wall and the back room, since the victim indicated that the light coming through the curtained front window provided enough light for her to see the defendant when in the back room.

The defendant and the victim went up the alley behind the building and entered from the rear door at approximately 3:00 p. m. The defendant showed the victim the drawers in the “middle” area, and opened them to show her where his “stash” would be located. They shared a marijuana cigarette and then, at about 3:15 p. m., the victim told the defendant that she had to leave.

According to the victim’s testimony, which the jury obviously accepted: 3 As she started walking towards the rear door, the defendant grabbed and twisted her arm and told her that she was not leaving. He forced her to move to the “middle” area by placing his arm around her neck. He then put his hands around her neck, and threatened to choke her if she did not disrobe by the time he counted to ten. The victim complied, and they then returned to the back room. Because the floor was bare, the victim returned to the “middle” area to retrieve her sweater to provide something to lie upon. The victim testified that while she was getting her sweater, the defendant held her by her hair until they returned to the back room, where the first rape occurred. After the rape, the defendant led the victim back to the middle area, where *832 she dressed. After smoking more cigarettes, the defendant again forced the victim to disrobe, and led her into one of the two rooms 4 where the second rape occurred. The defendant left the building at approximately 3:45 p. m., and the victim departed immediately thereafter.

II.

The main thrust of the defendant’s appeal is that it is unjust and unlawful to convict and punish him for both rape and kidnapping on these facts. First, the defendant asks for reversal of the kidnapping conviction because the “restraint involved [in the kidnapping] was entirely incidental to the underlying rape.” Alternatively, the defendant invokes the merger-of-sentences doctrine, State v. Honie, Del.Supr., 310 A.2d 872 (1973) and Dobrolenski v. State, Del.Supr., 328 A.2d 447 (1974), and asks that the rape sentences be merged into the kidnapping sentence to prevent consecutive sentencing and consequent “double punishment for substantially the same offense,” in violation of his rights under the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions.

III.

We find unacceptable the contention that the kidnapping conviction must be set aside because the restraint involved in the kidnapping was merely or entirely “incidental” to the rape.

A.

The defendant was convicted under 11 Del.C. § 783A(4), in that he “unlawfully restrained]” the victim . . . “[t]o violate or abuse [her] sexually.” The key word in the Kidnapping Statute for present purposes, the word “restrain,” is defined specifically in the kidnapping context by 11 Del.C. § 786(a) as follows:

‘Restrain’ means to restrict another person’s movements intentionally in such a manner as to interfere substantially with his liberty by moving him from 1 place to another, or by confining him either in the place where the restriction commences or in a place to which he has been moved, without consent. A person is moved or confined ‘without consent’ when the movement or confinement is accomplished by physical force, intimidation or deception, or by any means, including acquiescence of the victim, if he is a child less than 16 years old. . .

(Emphasis added)

Thus, under § 786(a), the term “restrain,” as used in the Kidnapping Statute, has three elements: (1) substantial interference with another’s liberty; (2) by movement or confinement; (3) without consent. Where such “restraint” is imposed for the purpose of sexual abuse or violation, there is a kidnapping in the first degree under § 783A(4).

Taking the specified elements of “restraint” in reverse order:

Since the victim in the instant case was 15 years old at the time of the offense, the third “without consent” factor is met by a showing that the movement or confinement was accomplished “by any means, including acquiescence of the victim.”

There was ample evidence of the movement or confinement of the victim — the second element of a kidnapping restraint. The confinement began at approximately 3:15 p. m., when the defendant, in response to the victim’s attempt to leave, grabbed and twisted her arm and told her that she was not leaving. It included the defend *833 ant’s arm and hands around the victim’s neck, threats to choke her, and seizing and holding her by her arm. This confinement continued until the victim left the building at approximately 3:45 p. m. Regarding movement, as has been stated, the defendant forced the victim to move from room to room several times during the course of the period of confinement.

And as to the first element of the statutory definition of “restraint” under the Kidnapping Statute, there was in the instant case, manifestly, “substantial interference” with the victim’s liberty. Again, the arm-grabbing and twisting, the throat violence and threats of choking, and the seizing and holding by the hair constituted the requisite “substantial interference” with liberty.

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Bluebook (online)
426 A.2d 829, 1981 Del. LEXIS 279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burton-v-state-del-1981.