Brown v. State, 318 Ga. App. 334

On or about March 28, 2009, a 14-year-old victim attended a cookout at Brown's home with her cousin and aunt.
Brown invited the girls to a motel; after initially being invited to a party, they went when invited again after the aunt fell asleep.
Brown drove the three teenagers to a motel, checked in alone, and in a rear room he allegedly kissed the victim’s neck, attempted to remove her belt, and penetrated her vagina with his penis while the cousin and her boyfriend were in the bathroom.
The cousin and boyfriend heard noises in the room and saw Brown naked; the boyfriend also observed the victim moaning.
A few days later, Brown sat beside the victim in a theater and put his hand down her pants; the aunt later confronted Brown at the theater.
The victim reported the attacks to the Coweta County sheriff’s office; Brown was charged with molestation, statutory rape, and enticing a child for indecent purposes and was convicted, receiving 30 years to serve.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of corroboration for statutory rape	Brown argues no corroboration beyond victim’s testimony.	State contends minor corroboration including prior statements and circumstantial evidence.	Sufficient corroboration found; statements and circumstantial evidence support the verdict.
Impeachment of the aunt with prior false accusation	Brown claims he should cross-examine aunt about a prior false rape accusation.	State and court limited impeaching evidence due to lack of deal or connection to case.	No error; limitation on cross-examination was proper.
Definition of enticing a child in jury charge	Trial court failed to define enticing a child for indecent purposes in the instruction.	Indictment tracked the statute and the charge read to the jury tracked the same elements.	No plain error; omission not likely to affect outcome; indictment provided sufficient guidance.
Charge on sexual battery as a lesser included offense	Brown sought a sexual battery instruction as a lesser included offense.	Evidence showed either child molestation or statutory rape; no basis for lesser charge.	Not entitled to a sexual battery instruction; substantial evidence supported greater offenses.

Weldon v. State, 270 Ga. App. 262 (Ga. App. 2004) (corroboration in statutory rape cases may be slight but sufficient)
Lee v. State, 232 Ga. App. 300 (Ga. App. 1998) (prior consistent statements can corroborate a statutory rape claim)
McClendon v. State, 187 Ga. App. 666 (Ga. App. 1988) (circumstantial evidence may corroborate victim testimony)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1980) (standard for sufficiency of evidence to sustain a conviction)
Reese v. State, 270 Ga. App. 522 (Ga. App. 2004) (view evidence in light most favorable to the verdict)
Colzie v. State, 289 Ga. 120 (Ga. 2011) (impeachment with prior accusations requires evidence of a deal or potential deal)
Sapp v. State, 290 Ga. 247 (Ga. 2011) (read and consider jury instructions as a whole; plain error standard)
White v. State, 281 Ga. 276 (Ga. 2006) (instructions viewed as a whole for error assessment)
Kelly v. State, 290 Ga. 29 (Ga. 2011) (plain error framework for challenged jury instructions)
Coleman v. State, 317 Ga. App. 409 (Ga. App. 2012) (indicia of error must actually change burden of proof)
Smith v. State, 310 Ga. App. 392 (Ga. App. 2011) (no lesser-included instruction where no evidence of lesser offense)
Linto v. State, 292 Ga. App. 482 (Ga. App. 2008) (no error where evidence supports greater offense or none)
Lombardi, Inc. v. Smithfield, 11 A.3d 1180 (Del. 1989) (irreparable harm is the most important factor for a preliminary injunction)