State v. Holden

HUNTER, Judge.

Michael Keith Holden (“defendant”) appeals from judgments dated 16 January 2002 entered consistent with jury verdicts finding him guilty of two counts of first degree statutory rape of a female under the age of thirteen years. As we determine that the trial court’s jury instructions violated defendant’s constitutional right to a unanimous jury verdict, we grant a new trial on both counts.

The State’s evidence presented at trial tends to show that on the date of the trial the victim was thirteen years old. Around Christmas 1999, the victim was living with her mother, her brother,…