People v. Dempsey
Illinois Appellate Court
610 N.E.2d 208 (1993)
- Written by Elliot Stern, JD
Facts
Randy Dempsey (defendant) was indicted for aggravated criminal sexual assault and criminal transmission of HIV for alleged intimate contact with his brother, who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident. At trial, Randy’s brother identified Randy in the courtroom. Randy’s brother was asked whether anyone had touched his private parts, and he responded that Randy had. Using a doll that he was shown, Randy’s brother demonstrated that Randy had touched his penis. Randy’s brother was asked whether Randy had put anything in the brother’s mouth. Randy’s brother pointed to the penis on the doll and said, “[Randy] put that in my mouth.” Randy testified that prior to the alleged incident with his brother, Randy’s doctor had informed Randy that he had HIV. The state called Randy’s physician to testify in order to demonstrate that Randy knew that he was infected with HIV at the time of the incident with his brother. Randy was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault and criminal transmission of HIV. Randy appealed, arguing that the statute on which his conviction was based was unconstitutionally vague because it failed to give adequate notice as to what acts were prohibited under its terms.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Welch, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
