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93 N.C. 542

State v. . Long

Supreme Court of North Carolina

Decided October 5, 1885

Supreme Court of North Carolina · decided 1885-10-05

Assault with intent to commit Rape — Evidence. INDICTMENT ior an assault with intent to ravish, tried before Graves, Judge, and a jury at Fall Term, 1885, of the Superior Court of Yadkin County. The prosecutrix, Lucy Venable, testified that the defendant assaulted her in an indecent and forcible manner; that he dragged her into the woods and bit her on the face and shoulder; that she screamed and fought him until she forced herself from him.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1885-10-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently March 1984

3 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Ashe, J.,

¶1 (after stating the facts). We. are of opinion there was no error in the charge of the Judge. The sole question in the case is, did the defendant attempt to have carnal knowledge of the prosecutrix by force and against her consent? The jury have found the fact that he did, and the verdict of the jury was well supported by the evidence; for the prisoner himself admitted a few minutes after the struggle, as testified to by the prosecutrix, that she offered to let him have carnal connexion with her if he would pay her ten cents, and he attempted to have connexion with her for nothing. This evidence of itself, independent of the testimony of the prosecutrix and the corroborating testimony of other witnesses, made out the criminal offence.

¶2 That she was a lewd woman and placed so small an estimate npou her favors, can make no difference. That only counts to her credit, for the fact that a woman is a common strumpet or the mistress of the defendant, is no bar, though such fact would undoubtedly prejudice her testimony. Wharton’s Criminal Law, §1148. Nor can it make any difference that she consented, upon, certain terms, if the defendant, refusing to comply therewith, attempted by force to have carnal knowledge,of her person without her consent. In such cases the law allows a “ locus penitential.” There is no difference with respect to the “ want of consent” as constituting a necessary ingredient of the offence, between *545 the higher crime of rape, and an assault with intent to ravish, and in Wright v. State, 4 Humphrey, (Tenn.) 193, which was an indictment for rape, it was held, that “ although the person abused consented through fear, or was a common prostitute, or consented after the act, or was taken first with her own consent, if she was afterwards forced against her will, the offence would be committed.”

¶3 In order to warraut a verdict of guilty in indictments of this nature, all that is required is, that the jury should be satisfied, not only that the defendant intended to gratify his passions on the person of the prosecutrix, but that he intended to do so at all costs, and notwithstanding any resistance on her part. Rex v. Lloyd, 7 C. & P., 318.

¶4 We hold there was no error. The judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed, and this must be certified to the Superior Court of Yadkin county, that the case may b j proceeded with the judgment.

¶5 No error. Affirmed.

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