Cornet v. State (Original)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault of an eight-year-old child, his step-daughter. On appeal, defendant contended that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the medical-care defense to digital penetration. The court granted defendant's petition for discretionary review to address three issues with respect to his conviction of the count pertaining to the digital penetration of the child's sexual organ: (1) whether the medical-care defense was available when the accused, a layperson with respect to medical science, was attempting to ascertain information regarding the existence of a relevant medical fact, (2) whether the doctrine of confession and avoidance applied to the medical-care defense, such that a defendant attempting to claim the defense must "essentially admit" to each element of sexual assault, including digital penetration of the sexual organ, and (3) if so, whether the defensive evidence in this case amounted to a concession of the elements of the offense, thus rendering the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on the defense erroneous. The court responded to all three issues in the affirmative and reversed the judgment of the court of appeals.
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