From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Clark v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jun 21, 1983
306 S.E.2d 60 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983)

Opinion

66004.

DECIDED JUNE 21, 1983. REHEARING DENIED JULY 1, 1983.

Rape. Dougherty Superior Court. Before Judge Kelley.

C. B. King, for appellant.

Hobart M. Hind, District Attorney, for appellee.


Appellant was convicted of rape of a five-year-old child. His motion for new trial was denied and he appeals from the judgment of conviction and the sentence imposed.

1. Appellant enumerates the general grounds. Appellant asserts that there was no evidence that the victim was "forcibly" raped and that, indeed, there was no evidence that penetration ever occurred. There was evidence that the child's undergarments were torn, that she had "an abrasion to the right temporal area of the head," and that she had suffered "a tear of the left vulva of the peritoneal area of the body, which is the external genitalia." The evidence of force, while perhaps not as overwhelming as that in Hill v. State, 246 Ga. 402, 404 ( 271 S.E.2d 802) (1980), was sufficient. See generally Henning v. State, 153 Ga. App. 465 ( 265 S.E.2d 372) (1980). Likewise, the evidence of penetration was sufficient. See generally Jackson v. State, 157 Ga. App. 604 (1) ( 278 S.E.2d 5) (1981). After a review of the entire record, we find that a rational trior of fact could reasonably have found from the evidence adduced at trial proof of appellant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) (1979).

2. Over appellant's hearsay objection, testimony by the victim's mother was given concerning certain statements incriminatory of appellant which had been related to her by the victim. It is urged that the testimony was not within any hearsay exception and was erroneously admitted into evidence. The testimony was properly admitted under the res gestae exception to the hearsay rule. Wallace v. State, 151 Ga. App. 171 ( 259 S.E.2d 172) (1979).

Judgment affirmed. Deen, P. J., and Banke, J., concur.

DECIDED JUNE 21, 1983 — REHEARING DENIED JULY 1, 1983.


Summaries of

Clark v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jun 21, 1983
306 S.E.2d 60 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983)
Case details for

Clark v. State

Case Details

Full title:CLARK v. THE STATE

Court:Court of Appeals of Georgia

Date published: Jun 21, 1983

Citations

306 S.E.2d 60 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983)
306 S.E.2d 60

Citing Cases

Taylor v. State

The concept of permitting statements made to others at the first opportunity by victims of sexual assaults…

Sosebee v. State

Furthermore, this evidence was also admissible as part of the res gestae of the offenses. See Clark v. State,…