ROBERT LAMAR HAND, ALIAS ROBERT DUPREE,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a conviction for carnal intercourse with a minor, holding that the victim's unmarried status could be proven by circumstantial evidence, even without direct testimony.
Yes, the unmarried status of the victim can be proven by circumstantial evidence, just like any other material fact in a criminal case.
“In this case there was no direct and positive testimony that the alleged victim had never been married but this element of the offense may be proven by circumstantial evidence the same as any other material fact may be proved.”
Establishes that the unmarried status can be proven by circumstantial evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appellant was convicted of carnal intercourse with an unmarried female under eighteen. The primary argument on appeal was that the State failed to…
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Appeal brings for review judgment of conviction of the offense of having carnal intercourse with an unmarried female of previous chaste character and under eighteen years of age.
Appellant insists that the judgment should be reversed because the State failed to prove that the alleged victim was unmarried and relies on the case of Watson v. State, 72 Fla. 16, 72 So. 370, which contention, if supported by the record, would be supported by our holding in that case.
In this case there was no direct and positive testimony that the alleged victim had never been married but this element of the offense may be proven by circumstantial evidence the same as any other material fact may be proved. We find from the record the proof of sufficient facts and circumstances to base the positive conclusion that at the time of the commission of the crime the little girl, then fourteen years of age, had never been married. The jury was justified in finding so from the evidence adduced.
On consideration of the whole record, we find no reversible error reflected and the judgment should be and is affirmed.
So ordered.
Affirmed.
BROWN, C. J., WHITFIELD, TERRELL, BUFORD, and ADAMS, JJ., concur.
CHAPMAN and THOMAS, JJ., dissent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Lowe v. State, 154 Fla. 730 (Fla. 1944)…of age at the time of the unlawful intercourse. See Dallas v. State, 76 Fla. 358, 79 So. 690, 8 A.L.R. 1457; Unter v. State, 85 Fla. 91, 95 So. 115; Thomas v. State, 105 Fla. 332, 141 So. 145; Deas v. State, 119 Fla. 839, 161 So. 729; Hand v. State, 152 Fla. 29, 10 So. (2nd) 714. As we study the record, no controversy exists between the prosecution and the defendant on two elements of the statutes viz: (1) the prosecutrix was unmarried and had never been married at the time of the alleged carnal intercour…
Authorities Cited
- Watson v. State, 72 Fla. 16 (Fla. 1916)