State v. Westgate
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of five counts of unlawful sexual contact and one count of visual sexual aggression against a child. At trial, the court did not require the jury to find one element of the crime - that the victim as younger than twelve when the sexual contact occurred - in order to deliver a guilty verdict. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it did not need to determine when the offenses occurred. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of conviction, holding (1) the trial court erred by not instructing the jury of the necessity of finding that the crimes were committed before the victim’s twelfth birthday; and (2) it cannot be concluded that it was highly probable that the error did not affect the jury’s verdict. Remanded.
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