State v. Brown

CROCKETT, Justice.

Mervil E. Brown appeals from a second jury verdict convicting him of forcible rape. A prior conviction of this same offense was reversed and remanded for a new trial. The facts are set forth quite fully in the previous opinion, 14 Utah 2d 324, 383 P.2d 930. A new trial was granted primarily because the district attorney had commented on the failure of defendant’s wife, who was present at the trial, to take the stand and testify in support of his alibi that he was at home at the time the offense was committed. 1

Upon the second trial, from which this appeal is taken, the…