Gutierrez v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of sexual battery. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the trial court erred when it granted the State’s request for a special jury instruction informing the jury that a sexual battery victim’s testimony need not be corroborated. The court of appeal affirmed, concluding that the trial court erred in giving the instruction but that the error was harmless. The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the court of appeal and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) the statement of law that the testimony of the victim need not be corroborated is not a proper jury instruction; and (2) the error in giving the instruction was not harmless in this case.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.