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State v. Alston
Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1984
Author: Jim
Facts: Defendant (D) and victim (V)
had sexual relations for about 6 months. V testified that
they had sex on copious occasions and she also testified that in
many instances, she had sex because she did not want to make D
angry. V moved out of D’s house in May. In June,
D was waiting for V outside her school and he told V that she
should go with him. V testified that she said no at first
but the she went with D because she was afraid of him. D
and V walked to a friend’s house where they had sex. V
filed the complaint the same day. Few days later, D showed
up at V’s house where they again had oral sex.
Issue: Was D guilty of 2nd degree
rape?
Holding: No
Rationale: 2nd degree rape
involves vaginal intercourse with the victim both by force and
against the victim’s will. Force does not have to be
physical, and force can be implied from threats of D of serious
bodily injury. In the current case, such actual or implied
force is missing. V testified that he had sex with D
because she knew of his anger from her past experience. But
such past experience of fear cannot establish the force element
of rape. According to the ct. “We note that the
absence of an explicit threat is not determinative in considering
whether there was sufficient force in whatever form to overcome
the will of the victim. It is enough if the totality of the
circumstances gives rise to a reasonable inference that the
unspoken purpose of the threat was to force the victim to submit
to unwanted sexual intercourse.” In the current case,
no such inference can be drawn from the facts provided.
Therefore, no rape.
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