State v. Qualls
Annotate this CaseAfter a second jury trial, Defendant was convicted of thirty-seven counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the convictions and remanded for a new trial, holding that the State failed to make a proper election of offenses but that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the election of offenses doctrine does not require the prosecution to identify a single incident of sexual battery in cases where the child victim testifies to repeated incidents of sexual contact occurring over a substantial period of time but does not furnish specific dates, details, or distinguishing characteristics as to individual incidents of sexual battery; (2) where a prosecution is based solely on generic evidence, such as this one, the trial court must provide the jury with a modified unanimity instruction that allows a conviction only if the jury unanimously agrees the defendant committed all the acts described by the victim; and (3) although the trial court did not provide such a modified unanimity instruction in this case, the omission of this instruction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Court Description: Authoring Judge: Justice Cornelia A. Clark
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