State v. Ninh
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Ninh was convicted of rape, indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated criminal sodomy related to allegations that over more than four years he sexually assaulted, raped, and sodomized his victim. The district court imposed 25 life sentences, running consecutive to five concurrent 165-month prison sentences.
The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting arguments that the Kansas rape and aggravated criminal sodomy statutes were unconstitutional and the prosecution presented insufficient evidence to sustain Ninh’s convictions. Statutory language prohibiting the defendant from using ignorance of whether the victim consented or was overcome by force or fear does not negate any of the prosecution's obligations to prove the essential elements of the crime—which Ninh did not challenge as vague—and thus does not permit arbitrary or unreasonable enforcement. Sufficient evidence existed for a rational fact-finder to find that the victim was overcome by fear while Ninh raped and sodomized her. The prosecutor’s statements concerning “some rapists” were not in error nor did the prosecutor misstate the evidence. The prosecutor's statement that Ninh's "form of force was grooming" was a misstatement of the law and constituted prosecutorial error but was harmless, considering the totality of the evidence. The prosecution did not violate Ninh’s right to a unanimous verdict.
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