State v. Payne

McHugh, Justice:

The appellant, Robert Payne, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Mercer County of the crime of statutory rape. The case is before this Court on an appeal from a final order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County, entered on September 2, 1976, sentencing the defendant to imprisonment in the West Virginia Penitentiary and denying the defendant’s motion to set aside the verdict and award him a new trial.

In 1973 the prosecuting witness in this case, who was then 13 years old, resided in Princeton, West Virginia, with her parents. On March 28, 1973, the prosecuting witness was…