Researcher: JO Page 1 4/15/24
OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5298
AN ACT CLARIFYING THE MEANINGS OF SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
AND SEXUAL CONTACT.
SUMMARY
This bill allows any prosecution for a sexual assault crime to be based
on a single act or multiple acts committed over a time period as a
continuous course of conduct.
In a 2022 state Supreme Court case involving first degree sexual
assault, the court held that the existing sexual assault laws criminalize
only individual acts and not a continuing course of conduct (State v.
Joseph V., 345 Conn. 516 (2022)). The court applied its ruling from
another opinion released the same day, State v. Douglas C., 345 Conn.
421 (2022), and reversed the defendant’s conviction on this charge and
remanded the case for a new trial (but did not reverse his conviction for
the separate crime of risk of injury to a minor).
Under Douglas C., a defendant’s constitutional right to jury unanimity
is violated if (1) the defendant was charged with a single count for a
single statutory violation; (2) the evidence supported separate incidents,
each of which could independently establish the violation; and (3) there
was not a specific unanimity instruction to the jury or a bill of particulars
(i.e., a detailed itemization of the charges given upon the defendant’s
request). In this situation, the defendant is entitled to a new trial if there
is the risk that the conviction was due to different jurors concluding that
the defendant committed different acts of that crime.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage and applicable to acts occurring
before, on, or after that date.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 35 Nay 1 (03/28/2024)