In a sexual assault case, is there any evidence that the victim was afraid of defendant prior to the sexual assault in her bedroom or on the living room couch?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Toledano, C077562 (Cal. App. 2015):

Similarly here, while the record does show the victim was generally afraid of defendant and was afraid to tell defendant "no" when he asked to orally copulate and digitally penetrate her, nothing in the record ties the victim's fear to anything defendant said or did to get the victim to acquiesce in the sexual acts in the victim's bedroom on the first occasion or on the living room couch. Unlike the threats defendant made to the victim prior to the other incident in her bedroom, the record contains no evidence of any similar threats made prior to the first incident in the victim's bedroom or the incident on the living room couch. Even when a threat is implied, it must be implied by something the perpetrator says or does. (Cf. People v. Soto (2011) 51 Cal.4th 229, 246 [noting that "the legal definition of duress is objective in nature" and "the focus must be on the defendant's wrongful act, not the victim's response to it"].)

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