State v. Hamm

577 S.W.2d 936, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2760
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 6, 1979
DocketNo. 38863
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 577 S.W.2d 936 (State v. Hamm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hamm, 577 S.W.2d 936, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2760 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Defendant was convicted of assault with intent to rape and was sentenced to two years imprisonment. His appeal is based on the single point that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for acquittal for the reason that the state failed to produce sufficient evidence to sustain the jury’s verdict against him. Despite defendant’s counsel’s utter disdain for Rule 84.04 pertaining to appellate briefs 1, we are constrained to apply the plain error doctrine of Rule 27.20(c), for there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction. We therefore reverse the judgment.

When the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the state, it appears that the prosecutrix had applied for work at a bar and restaurant in Troy at a time when defendant was also present. Defendant followed her out of the bar and engaged her in a conversation in which he mentioned that he owned three restaurant-bars in Elsberry [938]*938and would like for her to manage them for him. The prosecutrix and defendant left her motor vehicle at her home, where he met and visited with her mother and son, and then proceeded together in defendant’s car, ostensibly to view his restaurants in Elsberry. A stop was made along the way to purchase some beer, which both consumed, and another stop was made at a tavern near Winfield to answer nature’s call. Both played some pool at the tavern and consumed more beer. The interlude in their trip was made longer by reason of the fact that defendant could not get his car started. While waiting for automotive help, at defendant’s suggestion both took a walk in a nearby woods. The prosecutrix related that in the woods he commenced his flirtation: “he started pushing me up against them [the trees] trying to kiss me.” But when asked by the prosecutrix to cease his dalliance, defendant immediately complied with her request and stopped his advances. The two returned to the tavern to drink beer and play more pool. When defendant’s auto was finally repaired — -three to four hours after their arrival at the tavern in Winfield — the two proceeded on their way to Elsberry, where the defendant announced that he had always engaged in sexual relations with every girl that worked for him. He then turned off the main highway onto a gravel road. The prosecu-trix indicated an intention to get out of the car as it was moving, and defendant told her that if she jumped from the moving auto he would “drop me within 10 or 20 feet and I would never see my kid again.” He then stopped the car, moved over to the prosecutrix’ side, and without any indication of resistance from her, lifted her dress and tugged at her undergarments in an effort to pull them down. His efforts were clumsy and he was unable to remove any of her garments or even lower them as far as her knees. But in the excitement of the situation he reached a sexual climax and spilled seminal fluid on the prosecutrix’ clothing. Defendant immediately took the prosecutrix home where he again talked to her mother, and the prosecutrix voluntarily gave him her telephone number — a rather curious action. Her explanation for giving him the number was so that if he would call to meet her again, she would kill him. Fifteen to twenty minutes after the defendant left her home, the prosecutrix reported the incident to her mother.

Defendant’s version of the evidence differs mightily. He testified that the prose-cutrix was the aggressor, had requested $200 for her favors and that he had tried to resist her. He acknowledged the fact of his climax and testified that as soon as he had taken the prosecutrix to her residence, he immediately went home to tell his wife of the day’s events — another curious incident.

The law regarding uncorroborated testimony has been well stated in State v. Baldwin, 571 S.W.2d 236 (Mo. banc 1978), a rape ease where the parties initial association was chummy, l.c. 239:

Defendant complains that the State’s case rested almost entirely on the testimony of the prosecutrix and that the circumstances leading up to the alleged rape suggest that corroborating testimony was necessary. The basis for this argument is that there was evidence that they had been drinking and dancing together in a bar prior to the occurrence, that they had been acquainted for about two years and that she cooperated by removing her clothing prior to the intercourse. While these are circumstances the jury may weigh in determining the credibility of the prosecutrix, the rule in this state is that a conviction in cases of rape may be had upon the uncorroborated evidence of the prosecutrix. It is only in those cases where the evidence of the prosecutrix is that of a contradictory nature or, when applied to the admitted facts in the case, her testimony is not convincing and leaves the mind of the court clouded with doubts, that she must be corroborated or a judgment cannot be sustained. State v. Burton, 355 Mo. 467, 196 S.W.2d 621, 622-23 (1946).

[939]*939Whether the prosecutrix may have offered no resistance to defendant’s demands by reason of fear is a jury question with the jury being the arbiter of disputed facts, the probabilities of the evidence, and of the credibility of the witnesses. State v. Baldwin, supra; State v. Graham, 527 S.W.2d 936 (Mo.App.1975); State v. Bohannon, 526 S.W .2d 861 (Mo.App.1975).

However, we have the obligation to review the facts and consider them in relationship to the applicable law of the case. The difficult issue here is the matter of non-consent and resistance. Where there is a fear of violence that overpowers a woman’s mind to resist, there is no consent. And if resistance would be futile, proof of such is unnecessary. State v. Stamps, 569 S.W.2d 762 (Mo.App.1978); State v. Davis, 557 S.W.2d 41 (Mo.App.1977).

Of course, in a rape case the pros-ecutrix is required to use the utmost resistance of which she is capable. But in an assault with intent to rape, the doctrine of utmost resistance is not applicable, for the fact the rape is not consummated is sufficient to establish that there was resistance commensurate to thwart the effort at completing the crime. State v. McChesney, 185 S.W. 197 (Mo.1916). In order to convict of assault with intent to rape, the state must prove the assault and show that the defendant intended to have sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix “forcible and against her will, by using such force as would at all hazards overcome her resistance.” State v. Hawkins, 544 S.W.2d 880, 885 (Mo.App. 1976); State v. Williams, 324 Mo. 179, 22 S.W.2d 649 (1929); State v. Comer, 296 Mo. 1, 247 S.W. 179 (1922); State v. McChesney, supra.

In reaching our decision in this difficult case, we are guided by the following decisions of our Supreme Court relating to assault with intent to rape.

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Related

State v. Hoard
715 S.W.2d 321 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
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713 S.W.2d 267 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
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State v. Roden
674 S.W.2d 50 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
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616 S.W.2d 82 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1981)
State v. Phillips
585 S.W.2d 517 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
577 S.W.2d 936, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hamm-moctapp-1979.