{"id":801,"date":"2012-08-09T18:05:27","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=801"},"modified":"2025-11-19T17:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:17:32","slug":"sexual-assault","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=801","title":{"rendered":"Sexual Assault"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>CR27-211.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-211.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lack of consent<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(1) (12\/08\/22)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-221.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-221.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">By threat or coercion<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(2) (12\/08\/22)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-231.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-231.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">By placing the victim in fear that any person will suffer imminent bodily injury<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(3) (12\/08\/22)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-236.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-236.htm\">Asleep, unconscious, or unaware<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(4) (12\/08\/22)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-241.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-241.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">By substantially impairing the ability of the victim (drugs or intoxicants)<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(b)(1) (12\/08\/22)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-246.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-246.htm\">Substantial impairment<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(b)(2) (01\/12\/23)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-251.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-251.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Under the age of 16<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(c) (03\/30\/07)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-261.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-261.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Under the age of 18, and related or entrusted to care<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(d) (03\/30\/07)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-271.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-271.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Under the age of 16, and related or entrusted to care<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(e)(1) (03\/30\/07)<\/li>\n<li>CR27-281.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS27-281.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Under the age of 16, and served in a parental role<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(e)(2) (03\/30\/07)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u00a0Reporter&#8217;s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 2021, the legislature revised and reformulated the sexual assault statutes. <em>See<\/em> 2021, No. 68 (eff. July 1, 2021). The revision removed the element of \u201ccompulsion\u201d from \u00a7 3252(a) and refined the definition of \u201cconsent,\u201d among other changes. The current instructions reflect these changes.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Sexual Act.<\/strong>\u00a0 Where the State\u2019s information specifies the type of sexual act alleged, the trial court should use the term \u201cthe alleged sexual act\u201d rather than \u201ca sexual act\u201d when instructing the jury on the essential elements. <u>State v. Stephens<\/u>, 2020 VT 87, \u00b6 19, 213 Vt. 253. Additionally, to avoid juror confusion, the court should instruct on the specific sexual act charged, rather than identifying all the statutorily defined types of sexual acts when explaining the elements of sexual assault. <u>Id<\/u>.; <em>see also<\/em> <u>State v. Orost<\/u>, 2025 VT 15, \u00b6 48 (\u201cWhile the court\u2019s initial definition of \u2018sexual act\u2019 was broader than necessary given each of the specific allegations, the court also clarified on multiple occasions the exact alleged sexual conduct required for the jury to find defendant guilty of each sexual-assault charge.\u201d).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lack of Consent<\/strong>.\u00a0 Lack of consent may be shown without proof of resistance.\u00a0 Evidence that the victim\u2019s cooperation arose out of fear may show lack of consent.\u00a0\u00a0<u>State v. Desautels<\/u>, 2006 VT 84, 180 Vt. 189.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Age and Entrustment (CR27-261).<\/strong>\u00a0 In a prosecution under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(d), the State must prove that the victim was under the age of 18 and that the victim was either the defendant\u2019s child or \u201centrusted\u201d to the defendant\u2019s care \u201cby authority of law.\u201d <em>See<\/em> <u>State v. Orost<\/u>, 2025 VT 15, \u00b6\u00b6\u00a039\u201344 (rejecting defendant\u2019s argument that trial court impermissibly directed verdict on elements of age and entrustment).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CR27-211.\u00a0 Lack of consent, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(1) (12\/08\/22) CR27-221.\u00a0 By threat or coercion, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(2) (12\/08\/22) CR27-231.\u00a0 By placing the victim in fear that any person will suffer imminent bodily injury, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3252(a)(3) (12\/08\/22) CR27-236.\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=801\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":458,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-801","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1842,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/801\/revisions\/1842"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}