MN Supreme Court throws out rape conviction because intoxicated woman willingly consumed alcohol [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: USA Today


Minnesota Supreme Court throws out rape conviction because intoxicated woman willingly consumed alcohol

Sarah Elbeshbishi
USA TODAY

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a person can’t be found guilty of sexually assaulting someone who is intoxicated if that person willingly ingested drugs or alcohol.

The ruling was released Wednesday after the case of Francois Monulu Khalil, who was convicted of a third-degree criminal sexual misconduct by a jury because the victim was drunk and mentally incapacitated. Khalil, a Minneapolis man, met his victim after she was denied entry to a bar for being too intoxicated.

The court’s unanimous decision was written by Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Pail Thissen. Thissen writes that the lower court’s definition of mentally incapacitated regarding the case "unreasonably strains and stretches the plain text of the statue" since the victim was intoxicated before she met Khalil, her attacker.

In order to be considered mentally incapacitated under Minnesota law, the alcohol must be given to the person without that person’s agreement, according to the court. Because the original case did not meet the standard for a victim to be mentally incapacitated, the state's high court granted a new trial for Khalil.



Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/27/minnesota-supreme-court-drunk-rape-victim-not-incapacitated/7027981002