Watson v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseAppellant Patrick Watson was convicted by a jury on two counts of sexual battery against his daughter, K.P., for acts committed when she was between the ages of 11 and 13. After the Court of Appeals affirmed Watson's convictions, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the propriety of the trial court's jury charge on sexual battery, to the extent it instructed that a victim under the age of 16 lacks the legal capacity to consent to sexual conduct. The Supreme Court held that this particular instruction was improper when given in relation to the offense of sexual battery. Accordingly, the trial court erred in giving the instruction, the Court of Appeals erred in its affirmance of the trial court. The judgments were reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.
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.