United States v. Paul Rodriquez Contreras

Contreras was charged with having committed, on an Indian reservation, the crime of forcible rape on an Indian female. 18 U.S.C. §§ 2031 , 1152. Tried to a jury, he was found not guilty of the charged offense but guilty of the lesser included offense of assault with intent' to commit rape.

Contreras’ attorney here argues, ably and vigorously, that the evidence was insufficient to support conviction. He emphasizes testimony that the accused was highly intoxicated at the time of the acts which led to the charge. That Contreras was drunk is not open to question, and a medical expert offered by the defense testified that in his opinion the appellant, because of his drunkenness, would have been physically incapable of committing rape at the time in question. The jury evidently accepted this testimony, acquitting Contreras of rape despite the victim’s testimony that penetration had been accomplished. This determination, however, is not inconsistent with the determination that an assault with intent to commit rape was committed.

Contreras met the victim in a bar. After drinking and dancing together throughout the evening, the two entered Contreras’ automobile and, with the victim…