Case Caption: Alan Nigel Archibald v. People of the Virgin IslandsCase Number: S. Ct. Crim. No. 2016-0050Date: 03/29/2019Author: Cabret, Maria M. Citation: 2019 VI 13Summary: Convictions on charges of aggravated rape in the second degree as an act of domestic violence in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 1700a(a) and 16 V.I.C. § 91(b)(6), and incest in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 961, are affirmed. The Superior Court did not err or violate the defendant’s constitutional rights when it granted the People’s motion to amend the information or in denying in part his motion for judgment of acquittal. defendant is not deprived of his right to notice of the charges against him when the prosecution amends an information to add a lesser-included offense since the elements of the lesser offense are necessarily contained in the greater. Here the defendant had every opportunity to prepare a defense regarding whether he perpetrated an act of sexual intercourse or sodomy and whether the victim was his spouse, and had sufficient notice to defend himself concerning both elements. He also had abundant notice that the victim’s age was an element of the charge he faced—and the prosecution’s allegation that the victim was a minor—from the information that included the charge of aggravated rape in the first degree. Because aggravated rape in the second degree under former § 1700a(a) did not require the prosecution to prove any additional or different elements beyond the required elements of aggravated rape in the first degree under former § 1700(a)(2), it was a lesser-included offense of aggravated rape in the first degree. In ruling on the defense motion for judgment of acquittal the Superior Court correctly reasoned that because the prosecution elicited testimony that the victim was the defendant’s daughter, she could not possibly be his spouse as a matter of law. Because the victim was 14 at the time of the incident, the prosecution was not required to prove that he used force, intimidation, or his position of authority to accomplish the sexual act in order to establish guilt under § 1700a(a). In light of expert DNA testimony that there is a 99.9999 percent likelihood that defendant was the father of his daughter’s child, the prosecution also introduced sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could the defendant guilty of aggravated rape in the second degree and incest, and the Superior Court did not err in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. The September 15, 2016 judgment and commitment is affirmed.
Attachment: Open Document or Opinion