State v. Searles

Defendant Eric Searles, following a jury trial, appeals his conviction under 13 V.S.A. § 3252(a)(3) for sexual assault of a fourteen-year-old female. Defendant contests his conviction on three grounds. He claims the court erred by (1) refusing to instruct the jury that knowledge of the victim’s age was an element of the offense, or, if not an element, that a reasonable mistake about the victim’s age was a defense to the crime; (2) admitting evidence of the use of force when force was not an element of the crime; and (3) denying a mistrial when media coverage of the trial was read by some…