Flurry v. State

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s reversal of appellant’s conviction for rape on the basis that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of carnal abuse in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor. The record reflects that the trial court stated the following as its rationale for denying appellant’s request:

The court feels that her testimony if believed by the jury would be the offense of rape, and that the defendant and his witnesses have flatly denied that any contact, at all, occurred. And, therefore, I don’t feel…