Opinion
Argued September 17, 1986.
Decided February 26, 1987.
Appeal from the Superior Court, Aroostook County.
John D. McElwee, Dist. Atty., Neale T. Adams (orally), Asst. Dist. Atty., Caribou, for plaintiff.
Stevens, Engels, Bishop Sprague, Jonathan W. Sprague (orally), Presque Isle, for defendant.
Before NICHOLS, ROBERTS, WATHEN, GLASSMAN, SCOLNIK and CLIFFORD, JJ.
The Defendant, William McGouldrick, appeals from the judgment of conviction entered in Superior Court (Aroostook County) after a jury had on January 27, 1986, found him guilty on three counts of gross sexual misconduct, all involving a step-granddaughter. The issue on appeal is whether in each instance there was sufficient evidence that the 14-year-old prosecutrix submitted as a result of compulsion by the 60-year-old Defendant.
Although the record before us fails to support a finding of compulsion as to Counts II and III, there was evidence adduced on Count I upon which a jury could rationally conclude that the prosecutrix submitted to the Defendant as a result of "physical force, a threat of physical force or a combination thereof [that rendered her] unable to physically repel the [Defendant]." 17-A M.R.S.A. § 251(1)(E) (1983).
The entry is:
Judgment on Count I affirmed.
Judgment on Counts II and III vacated; remanded for entry of judgment of acquittal on Counts II and III.
All concurring.