Robinson v. Commonwealth, 70 Va. App. 509 (2019)

The victim and her husband lived with the appellant and the appellant’s girlfriend. The victim, accompanied by her sister, came home and knocked on the door to be let in because the door was latched. The appellant opened the door, and then he grabbed the victim’s breasts and twisted “as hard as he could” for about a minute. The appellant was charged and convicted of sexual battery, which requires proving that the accused sexually abused someone with nonconsensual force. On appeal, he contended that the evidence did not support finding that the force requirement was met. The Court held that the force requirement was met because he had grabbed and twisted the victim’s breasts as hard as he could. This case overturned a prior case that held that holding someone down does not constitute sufficient force to meet the force element. This demonstrates that aggression suffices for the element of force, and that the accused does not need to override the victim’s will for the element to be proven. 

Topics

• Sexual violence and rape

Geographical location

• North America
• United States
• Virginia

Keywords

• criminal law and procedure
• elements of crimes
• constructive force
• sexual abuse

Year

• 2019

External URL

• Robinson v. Commonwealth, 70 Va. App. 509 (2019)

Court

• Court of Appeals of Virginia

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• Virginia