Gaines v. State

Jim Hannah, Justice.

A Pulaski County jury found appellant Eric Dewayne Gaines guilty of rape in violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-103(a)(4) (Repl. 1997). Gaines was sentenced to fifteen years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. The charge arose from allegations that Gaines engaged in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity with T.W., a thirteen-year-old female child.

Gaines raises two points on appeal. He argues that the trial court erred in not granting his request to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of carnal abuse in the third degree. He also argues he was…