State v. Dinkel
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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's convictions for two counts of rape of a child under the age of fourteen, holding that the court of appeals erred in concluding that rape of a child has no mental culpability requirement so Defendant's intent was irrelevant.
On appeal, Defendant argued that K.H., the alleged victim, raped her and that she continued the sexual contact because K.H. was blackmailing her and she had a mental disease or defect. The court of appeals concluded that whether K.H. forced the sexual encounter was irrelevant. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that even if Defendant's rape defense was not relevant to a mental culpability requirement, it was relevant to the actus reus requirement. The Court remanded the case to the district court for a Van Cleave hearing to determine whether defense trial counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the State never established the voluntary act requirement.
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