Opinion
42593 Record Nos. 7740 and 7741.
November 29, 1971
Present, All the Justices.
Rape — Incest — Penetration.
Since penetration, an essential element of rape and incest, was not established, convictions reversed and remanded.
Error to a judgment of the Circuit Court of Stafford County. Hon. S. Bernard Coleman, judge presiding.
Reversed and remanded.
G. Louis Oleyar, Jr., for plaintiff in error in Record Nos. 7740 and 7741.
Robert E. Shepherd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General (Andrew P. Miller, Attorney General, on brief), for defendant in error in Record Nos. 7740 and 7741.
The defendant, Franklin Scott Newton, waived a jury trial and was convicted by the trial court of statutory rape and incest.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, we find it insufficient to establish penetration, an essential element of each of these offenses.
Therefore, we reverse the convictions and remand for new trials if the Commonwealth be so advised.
Reversed and remanded.