State v. Schad

795 P.2d 406, 247 Kan. 242, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 155
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 19, 1990
Docket63,890
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 795 P.2d 406 (State v. Schad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Schad, 795 P.2d 406, 247 Kan. 242, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 155 (kan 1990).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Herd, J.:

This is a criminal action in which Ralphetta Schad directly appeals her jury convictions of two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, K.S.A. 21-3506, and one count of aggravated incest, K.S.A. 21-3603. Schad was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of ten to twenty years on each count of aggravated criminal sodomy and for a period of three to ten years for the aggravated incest offense. The sentences run consecutively.

The facts giving rise to this case are as follows: On September 9, 1988, five-year-old J.P. spent the afternoon with her godmother, Diana Lyons. Lyons testified that J.P. cried hysterically when it was time to go home and told Lyons she was afraid to [243]*243go because Bill (defendant’s friend), Maurice (defendant’s boyfriend), and the defendant (J.P.’s mother) put their fingers and tongues on her private part. Lyons further testified that J.P. also said her mother made her three-year-old sister, S.J., put her mouth “down there.” Lyons also stated that earlier in the summer J.P. had spent the night with Bill and when Lyons had arrived to pick up J.P., J.P. said she had to put on her underpants and retrieved them from the living room floor and put them on.

J.P. told Shaun Price, an investigating officer, that Bill, Maurice, and her mother touched her with their fingers and tongues in her private area. J.P. also told the officer these people gave her mother money before they came into J.P.’s bedroom and undressed her.

Dixie Simpson, the nurse who examined J.P., testified that J.P. told her J.P.’s mother and “everybody” touched her in the private place and J.P. pointed to her genital area. J.P. also told the nurse that “they [defendant, Bill, Maurice, and S.J.] stuck their tongues in there, ain’t that gross.” A pelvic examination revealed a reddened area on the inner walls of the vagina.

At trial, tape-recorded interviews with J.P. were introduced into evidence and played for the jury. During the interview with a police officer and a social worker, J.P. marked the vaginal area on anatomically correct drawings to show where Bill and Maurice touched her. At trial and during the interview, J.P. testified that Bill touched her in the genital area with his finger and tongue while she stayed at his home. J.P. also stated that Maurice gave her “bad touches” with his finger and tongue. J.P. further testified that her mother touched her in her private place with her tongue and fingers and that her mother also made S.J. touch her in the private place with her finger and tongue. Finally, J.P. stated that her mother received money, a toy dolly, candy, Raggedy Andy, a toy car, and a big slide for allowing Bill and Maurice to touch J-P-

Schad was charged with three counts of causing a child to engage in oral sodomy under the aggravated criminal sodomy statute, K.S.A. 21-3506(b), and one count of engaging in oral copulation with her five-year-old daughter under the aggravated incest statute, K.S.A. 21-3603. Schad was acquitted on the ag[244]*244gravated criminal sodomy involving Maurice and convicted on all other counts. This appeal followed.

Schad first contends insufficient evidence exists to support the convictions of aggravated criminal sodomy because the State failed to prove oral or anal copulation.

In a criminal action, when the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, the standard of review on appeal is whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, convinces the appellate court that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The appellate court considers only the evidence in favor of the verdict to determine whether the essential elements of the charge are sustained. State v. Walker, 244 Kan. 275, 280, 768 P.2d 290 (1989).

K.S.A. 21-3506 provides: “Aggravated criminal sodomy is: .... (b) causing a child under 16 years of age to engage in sodomy with any person.” “Sodomy” is defined, in part, as oral or anal copulation. K.S.A. 21-3501(2). Schad contends the aggravated criminal sodomy convictions must fall because there is no evidence of sodomy by oral copulation. We must agree.

In State v. Switzer, 244 Kan. 449, 456, 769 P.2d 645 (1989), we stated the first phrase of K.S.A. 21-3501(2) prohibits nonconsensual penetration by the male sex organ into a mouth or anus. Clearly, there is no evidence of such activity in the present case.

In State v. Moppin, 245 Kan. 639, 783 P.2d 878 (1989), this court considered for the first time whether cunnilingus, oral-genital stimulation between the tongue of a male and the genital area of a female, is sodomy. The facts in Moppin are similar to the case at hand, in that the victim stated her father licked her and she marked the genital area on an anatomically correct drawing of a female girl to show where her father licked her. 245 Kan. at 640. Moppin argued there was no evidence of oral or anal copulation to sustain an aggravated criminal sodomy charge. We determined that cunnilingus did not constitute oral copulation and was not an act of sodomy. 245 Kan. at 643-44.

Our decision in Moppin clearly establishes that cunnilingus, whether perpetrated by a male or female, does not constitute oral copulation and fails to support a charge of aggravated criminal sodomy under K.S.A. 21-3506(b). Thus, evidence of penetration [245]*245by the tongue, no matter how conclusive, is irrelevant where the defendant has been improperly charged. See State v. Crawford, 247 Kan. 223, 795 P.2d 401 (1990). In the present case, Schad could have been charged with rape or aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The convictions for aggravated criminal sodomy must be reversed. The 1990 Legislature amended the definition of sodomy in K.S.A. 21-3501(2), but the amended statute does not cover the problems presented in cases such as this. See L. 1990, ch. 149, § 14(2).

Because of our decision, we need not consider Schad’s other arguments relating to the aggravated criminal sodomy convictions.

Next, Schad alleges there is insufficient evidence to sustain her conviction for aggravated incest because the State failed to prove oral copulation. K.S.A.

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State v. Schad
795 P.2d 406 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
795 P.2d 406, 247 Kan. 242, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schad-kan-1990.