Drunk rape victim was not ‘mentally incompetent’, Minnesota Supreme Court says

MINNEAPOLIS – A person who is sexually assaulted while intoxicated does not fit the designation of a more serious charge if he or she has intentionally used alcohol or drugs, the Minnesota Supreme Court said in a decision on Wednesday .

The opinion stems from the case of Francois Momulu Khalil, a Minneapolis man who was convicted of third degree criminal sexual misconduct because the victim was drunk and considered by the jury to be mentally incompetent. The woman met Khalil after being refused entry to a bar because she was too drunk.

In a unanimous decision drafted by Justice Paul Thissen, the State Supreme Court said that the lower court’s definition of mental incapacity in this case “excessively strains and expands the plain text of the statute” because the victim was drunk before meeting her attacker.

To meet the definition, alcohol must be administered to the person under its influence without that person’s consent, the High Court ruled.

Some worry about the ramifications of the decision. Democratic State Representative Kelly Moller said it shows the urgent need to update the state’s criminal sexual conduct law, including closing what she calls the intoxication loophole. . She introduced a bill to change the law.

“Victims who are intoxicated to the extent that they are unable to give consent have a right to justice,” Moller said. “The people of Minnesota who are suffering unthinkable trauma deserve to see the Legislature act immediately on this.”

The background to the opinion states that “nearly half of all women in the United States have been victims of sexual violence in their lifetime – including an estimated 10 million women who have been raped under the influence of l alcohol or drugs.

The judges granted a new trial for Khalil. His lawyer declined to comment on the decision.