State v. Lederer

299 N.W.2d 457, 99 Wis. 2d 430, 1980 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3241
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedOctober 28, 1980
Docket80-113-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 299 N.W.2d 457 (State v. Lederer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Lederer, 299 N.W.2d 457, 99 Wis. 2d 430, 1980 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3241 (Wis. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

CANNON, J.

Defendant was convicted of third degree sexual assault contrary to sec. 940.225(3), Stats. Defendant challenges: the constitutionality of the consent definition as well as the sufficiency of evidence presented to establish that the victim had not consented; the adequacy of discovery of medical reports, psychiatric examinations, and past addresses; the adequacy of the jury instructions; and the failure to admit certain statements of the victim. Defendant finally contends that a new trial should be granted in the interests of justice. We find no error and affirm.

On July 11, 1978, defendant telephoned the prosecutrix at her residence. At the suggestion of the defendant, the prosecutrix agreed to inspect a residence for rental purposes. The prosecutrix met the defendant at a service station where she was dropped off by her roommate. Before leaving with the defendant, the prosecutrix took down the license number of defendant’s van and gave it to her roommate. The prosecutrix got into defendant’s *432 van, and they drove to an unfurnished home in River Hills.

At the home, defendant began to disrobe the prosecu-trix. The prosecutrix objected and pushed defendant’s hand away. The defendant allegedly told her that it would be worse if she fought. She permitted the defendant to disrobe her. Defendant performed an act of sexual intercourse, despite the verbal protestations of the prosecutrix. Defendant fell asleep on top of the prosecutrix. When defendant awoke in the early hours of July 12, 1978, defendant performed a second act of sexual intercourse. Defendant again fell asleep with his arm and part of his body across the prosecutrix. A third act of intercourse was performed when defendant awoke, as well as an act of fellatio. Defendant then took several photographs of the prosecutrix in the nude. Acts of sexual intercourse and fellatio were again performed. Defendant then drove the prosecutrix home.

At trial, testimony was produced regarding the photographs of the prosecutrix in the nude found at the residence. Testimony was produced regarding the bedding found at the residence and the tests performed for saliva, blood and semen on the bedding. Testimony was also presented about a medical report prepared at Family Hospital. The trial court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss at the close of the state’s case. The defense rested without calling any witnesses. Judgment on the guilty verdict was entered October 12, 1979. Post-conviction motions were denied January 16, 1980.

The following contentions are raised on appeal:

(1) that sec. 940.225(3), Stats., which proscribes non-consensual intercourse, is facially overbroad and unconstitutional;
(2) that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss for insufficient evidence on count two;
*433 (3) that the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding a medical report prepared at Family Hospital;
(4) that the trial court erred in refusing to order the prosecutrix to submit to a mental examination;
(5) that the trial court erred in refusing to order discovery of the prosecutrix’s past addresses;
(6) that the trial court erred in refusing to specially instruct the jury on the prosecutrix’s prior inconsistent statements;
(7) that the trial court erred in excluding testimony regarding the prosecutrix’s statement that she did not want the defendant to go to jail; and
(8) that a new trial should be granted in the interests of justice.

We find these contentions to be without merit and affirm.

I. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SEC. 940.225(3), STATS.

Defendant asks us to determine that sec. 940.225(3), Stats, is constitutionally infirm for overbreadth. Defendant contends that application of the definition of consent contained in sec. 940.225(4) could subject an individual to punishment for engaging in consensual sexual activities where no testimony was produced regarding acts or words which evidenced freely given consent. We do not agree.

A statute will be found overbroad where “the language of the statute, given its normal meaning, is so broad that the sanctions of the statute may apply to conduct which the state is not entitled to regulate.” State w. Tronca, 84 Wis.2d 68, 88-89, 267 N.W.2d 216, 225 (1978). Where statutory overbreadth is at issue, the challenging party is permitted to hypothesize situations where the statute might curtail legitimate activities. *434 Id. at 89, 267 N.W.2d at 225. However, the statutory infirmity must be both real and substantial in relation to the sweep of the legislation. Id. at 90, 267 N.W.2d at 226.

The plain terms of sec. 940.225(3), Stats, defines third degree sexual assault as sexual intercourse without consent. Consent is defined by sec. 940.225(4), as “words or overt actions by a person who is competent to give informed consent indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact.”

The statutory definition of consent when read in conjunction with other statutory provisions has been challenged for vagueness and for shifting the burden of proof from the state to the defendant. Gates v. State, 91 Wis.2d 512, 283 N.W.2d 474 (Ct. App. 1979). We rejected these constitutional challenges. Id. at 518, 520, 283 N.W.2d at 477, 478.

We reject defendant’s contention that a defendant could be convicted under sec. 940.225(3), Stats., for engaging in consensual sexual relations. The plain terms of the statute require that the state must prove that the act of sexual intercourse must be without consent. In Gates, supra, at 520, 283 N.W.2d at 477, this court stated that for conviction for second degree sexual assault “[t]he State must introduce evidence that there was no consent, and this evidence must be sufficient to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” Our supreme court has also determined that “[t]he plain wording of the statutory definition of consent demonstrates that failure to resist is not consent; . . . .” State v. Clark, 87 Wis.2d 804, 815, 275 N.W.2d 715, 721 (1979). We hold that these definitions of consent apply equally well to third degree sexual assault. In so defining consent the legislature has relieved the state of the burden of proving that the victim resisted in order to establish that the act was nonconsensual.

*435 Defendant contends that two parties may enter into consensual sexual relations without manifesting freely given consent through words or acts. We reject this contention as we know of no other means of communicating consent.

Defendant additionally challenges sec.

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Bluebook (online)
299 N.W.2d 457, 99 Wis. 2d 430, 1980 Wisc. App. LEXIS 3241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lederer-wisctapp-1980.