Swain v. State

We granted the State's certiorari petition in this rape case to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals' holding that the State failed to prove penetration conflicts with prior decisions of this Court and of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Willie A. Swain was indicted for the offense of rape in the first degree of his 11-year-old daughter. See § 13A-6-61(a)(3), Ala. Code 1975. A jury convicted Swain on that charge, and he was sentenced to 21 years in the penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, holding that the State failed to produce sufficient evidence to…