Oklahoma court rules sodomy is not rape if victim is unconscious from alcohol use
An Oklahoma court spared an outcry after declaring that sodomy cannot be considered rape if the victim is unconscious because of drinking too much.
The court ruled in a unanimous decision that according to state law, oral sex with an unconscious victim is not criminalized as rape because it cannot be considered as "forced."
Attorneys working on the case were angered by the court's decision because this means the law will not be able to protect rape victims who are intoxicated. They urged state legislators to amend the law.
The ruling was given for a case involving a 16-year-old girl. Apparently, the girl had been drinking with friends at a park but became too intoxicated to even walk on her own.
One of the boys offered to give her a ride home. They carried her to the car and the boy drove her to her grandmother's house. Because she was still unconscious when she was brought home, she was taken to a nearby hospital. Tests showed that her blood alcohol content was over .34.
The hospital staff also examined her for signs of sexual assault. They found the boy's DNA on certain parts of her body. When authorities confronted him, he said she consented to having oral sex, but the girl said she could not remember anything after leaving the park. Authorities charged the boy with rape.
State Rep. Scott Biggs said he will amend the existing laws to protect unconscious victims against forcible sodomy.
"I am horrified by the idea that we would allow these depraved rapists to face a lower charge simply because the victim is unconscious," he said in a statement. "I think the judges made a grave error, but if they need more clarification, we are happy to give it to them by fixing the statute. Unfortunately, legal minds often get stuck on questions of semantics, when it is clear to most of us what the intent of the law is."
