West v. State

Larry Van West was convicted in the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, of the crime of attempted sexual battery. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-3-95 and 97-3-97 (Supp. 1982) and § 97-1-7 (1972). He was sentenced to serve a term of 20 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The evidence establishes without serious contradiction that on March 2, 1981, West inveigled his victim, a female student at the University of Southern Mississippi, into an apartment near where she lived, made a few suggestive comments, and without her consent, fondled her breasts, put his hand…