People v. Cash

Cash (Defendant), who was thirty years old, met a female who was one month shy of turning sixteen years old at a bus station in Detroit. The female was running away from home. After talking for a couple of hours, Defendant persuaded the female to accompany him on a drive in his car. They proceeded to a motel where they engaged in two separate acts of sexual intercourse. After Defendant had fallen asleep, the female snuck out of the hotel room, went to the hotel attendant, and the police were called. Defendant was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, namely engaging in sexual conduct with a person between the ages of thirteen and sixteen years. At a preliminary hearing, the female admitted she had told Defendant that she was seventeen years old. Prior to trial, Defendant requested that the jury be instructed that a reasonable mistake as to the female’s age is a defense. The trial court refused. At trial, Defendant represented himself. The female testified that she had voluntarily, though reluctantly, engaged in sexual intercourse with Defendant out of fear that he might harm her. The court instructed the jury that “[i]t is no defense that the defendant believed that [the female] was seventeen years old or older at the time of the alleged act.” Defendant was found guilty and he appealed.