Herron v. Commonwealth

Herron was tried on an indictment charging him with the rape of a thirteen-year-old girl on February 23, 1966. Va. Code Ann. § 18.1-44 (Repl. vol. 1960) (authorizing the death penalty or confinement for life or a term of not less than five years where a person carnally knows a female child under the age of fourteen years, whether or not the female consented). This appeal is from the conviction order, which sentenced Herron to ten years in the penitentiary. Herron complains principally of an instruction that permitted the jury to find him guilty if it believed he had sexual intercourse with…