Sexual Assault
Sexual assault under section 22.011 of the Penal Code is a second-degree felony: two to twenty years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Aggravated sexual assault under section 22.021 is a first-degree felony: five to ninety-nine years or life. Both require sex-offender registration upon conviction.
What the State must prove
The State must prove that the defendant intentionally or knowingly caused the penetration of another person’s sexual organ or anus by any means, or caused the penetration of the defendant’s sexual organ by the complainant, without the complainant’s consent.
Consent is the central element. Texas defines several circumstances under which consent is legally absent: physical force or violence, threats, the complainant’s unconsciousness or physical inability to resist, or a position of authority (therapist, clergyman, healthcare provider).
Aggravated sexual assault applies when the defendant causes serious bodily injury or attempts to cause death, uses or exhibits a deadly weapon, acts with another person, or when the victim is under fourteen, elderly, or disabled.
An adult-on-adult non-violent sexual-assault allegation is often a he-said-she-said. Jurors often have difficulty finding proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a complainant’s claim that she did not consent—and rightly so—and so acquit.
The corroboration problem
Texas requires no corroboration for sexual assault charges. The complainant’s testimony alone, if believed by a jury, is legally sufficient to sustain a conviction. That makes these cases fundamentally about credibility: the complainant’s motive to fabricate, the consistency of their account across multiple tellings, the timing of the outcry, and the presence or absence of physical or forensic evidence.
We examine everything: SANE exam results, DNA evidence, text messages, social media communications, prior relationship history, and the complainant’s statements to friends, family, police, and medical providers. Inconsistencies in the complainant’s account are often the most powerful defense evidence.
Consent
Lack of consent is an element of sexual assault involving adults. The State has the burden of disproving consent beyond a reasonable doubt. The question is what happened between two people in a private setting, and the jury’s task is to decide whom to believe.
Consent is never a defense when the complainant is a child.
Talk to us
If you have been convicted and need an appeal, email us at [email protected].