People v. Almond

Charles Almond was charged with aggravated battery and attempted rape. After a bench trial, he was found not guilty of aggravated battery and guilty of attempted rape. Consequently, he was sentenced to the Illinois State Penitentiary for a term of not less than 1 year, nor more than 3 years. Defendant appeals and raises the following issue on review: whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had the specific intent to rape the prosecutrix or that defendant committed an act which constituted a substantial step toward rape.

The prosecutrix, the State’s first witness,…