Judge Tosses Rape Charge in 5-Year-Old’s Murder Case

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: All right, with regard to the defendant's motion to dismiss, the state is alleging three charges, the first being first-degree murder, the second, statutory rape of a child by an adult, and the third, statutory sexual offense of a child by an adult. With regard to the defense's motion to dismiss, as to counts one and three, that motion is denied. The court believes that there has been substantial evidence presented to the jury of those two charges, such that the question can be presented to the jury. With regard to the second count, statutory rape of a child by an adult, the state needs to establish substantial evidence of two things. First, that the state proves each essential element of the crime, and that the defendant was the perpetrator of that crime. The court considers all the evidence in the light most favorable to the state and draws all reasonable inferences. Any contradictions or discrepancies must be resolved by the jury. Charge of statutory rape has three elements. First, that the defendant engaged in vaginal intercourse with the victim. Vaginal intercourse is penetration, however slight, of the female sex organ by the male sex organ. Second, that at the time of the alleged acts, the alleged victim was a child under the age of 13 years. And third, that at the time of the acts alleged, the defendant was at least 18 years of age. This statutory rape charge differs significantly from the statutory sex offense by an adult, of a child by an adult, in that the state does not need to prove that the male sex organ entered into the female sex organ. Rather, the state needs only prove that any penetration, however slight, by an object into the genital or anal opening of a person's body. It gives the state a lot more leeway as to establishing that particular offense. And for the record, both offenses are listed as class B1 felonies. They are listed as the same type of felony offense. The state has shown that Peyton Fields received trauma to her vagina, clinical hood, and rectum. However, the only evidence to indicate that perhaps Mr. Pervat's penis entered Peyton's vagina is a third component of unknown, inconclusive amount of DNA. Whether that third DNA portion is female or otherwise cannot be said. Without any other evidence to link this second necessary element, the jury would merely engage in a guessing game. Therefore, I do not find that substantial evidence has been established with regard to the statutory rape offense, and it grant the defense a motion to dismiss. And note the state's objection to my ruling. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Britt, do you wish to present any evidence? No, sir, we do not. Okay. With regard to your clients giving any sort of testimony, have you had a conversation with your client about whether he would testify or not? Yes, sir. Multiple. And has indicated that he would not testify. That's correct. All right, Mr. Pervat, if you can please stand. Mr. Pervat, you understand that you have a constitutional right to remain silent. You understand that? Yes, sir. All right, and you understand that that constitutional right remains with you throughout this trial. Yes, sir. And do you understand that if you wish to exercise your right to remain silent, I would instruct the jury that they could not use that silence against you. Yes, sir. And do you understand that you also have the right to testify if you wanted to testify? Do you understand that? Yes, sir. And that you could give up your right to remain silent and that you could take the stand and testify if you wanted. Do you understand? Yes, sir. And that whether to testify or not testify are choices that you and you alone can make. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Now, your attorney has indicated that you do not wish to testify. Is that accurate? [00:04:50] Peyton Fields: Yes, sir. I do not wish to testify. He did pretty good. [00:04:52] Speaker 1: Okay. All right. So, in other words, the choice that you're making not to testify is your choice and yours alone. Yes, sir. And it is not the choice of your attorney. Yes, sir. And you're making that decision not to testify knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Yes, sir. All right. Thank you, sir. You can have a seat. [00:05:10] Speaker ?: Yes, sir. [00:05:12] Speaker 1: All right. So, we will bring the jury back in. Mr. Britt, you can rest in front of the jury. Yes, sir. And then we will roll into our charge conference. Given the amount of time that we have, I think that we can go substantially through our charge conference. Anything else that we might need to resolve, we could probably resolve by email and then put on the record anything in the morning can do. Closing arguments in the morning. Is that sufficient? That is. Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Anything else that needs to be discussed on behalf of the state? No, your honor. The defense? No, sir. Let's bring our jury back in. Bring in the jury. Thank you. [00:06:04] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:06:34] Speaker 1: Mr. Britt, Mr. Britt, the state has rested. Do you wish to present any evidence? No, sir. Defense arrests? Yes. All right. Thank you. Members of the jury, all of the evidence has now been presented. It will soon be your duty to decide from the evidence what the facts are and to apply the law that I'm about to give you to those facts in arriving at your verdict in this case. Prior to the arguments of the court on the law that will follow the lawyers' speeches, I am required to confer with the lawyers about the law involved in this case. For that reason, we're going to excuse you for the lawyer, and then we will reconvene again in the morning. However, as I cautioned you before, do not yet express or form an opinion regarding the evidence of this case. If you have not yet heard the case, you have not yet heard the final arguments of the attorneys or my final instructions on the law that you will apply. So, as you go home, also remember not to discuss this case amongst yourselves. Do not discuss this case with anybody else, including friends, family members, or co-workers. Do not have any contact with any of the parties, attorneys, or witnesses. Do not conduct any independent investigation or inquiry. All of the evidence that you've seen or heard in the last couple of weeks is the only evidence that you can consider, and no other evidence from any other source. If you happen to have to go by any of the locations that have been mentioned, you may pass by them, but you are not allowed to stop and conduct any independent inquiry or investigation. You are not allowed to post online on any social media sites regarding your experience as a juror or any of the evidence that you've seen or heard. All right, members of the jury, go ahead and pull up your notebooks, take off your red badges, clip them to your notebooks, and you're excused until 9.30 tomorrow morning. [00:09:07] Peyton Fields: All right, let's go ahead and pull up your notebooks, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back in the chair, and we'll be back this way, please. [00:09:37] Speaker ?: Thank you.