State v. Mullen
Rhode Island Supreme Court
740 A.2d 783 (1999)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Timothy Mullen (defendant) was charged with committing nine acts of “abominable and detestable crimes against nature” with a female over a three-year period in violation of the state’s sodomy statute, § 11-10-1. The female victim was between the ages of 14 and 17 at the time of the offenses. However, the indictment mistakenly indicated that the criminal acts took place over a one-year period when the victim was over the age of 16, the age of sexual consent in the state. While Mullen’s indictment was pending, the Rhode Island legislature removed individuals from the purview of the sodomy law. As a result, § 11-10-1 only applied to acts of bestiality. The trial court dismissed the indictment. The State appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam.)
Dissent (Flanders, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
