Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia
How long do you have to press charges for being kicked with steel toe work boots and having your arm broken in 3 places? Also by law, if a man forces sexual intercourse while wife is asleep under strong sleeping medication due to not being able to sleep from pain in back, is it legally rape?
2 Answers from Attorneys
12 months from date of incident if charged as misdemeanor; no time limit if felony.
Probably not provable as rape(in my opinion).
Well, remember that you really cannot "press charges." People talk about this, but it is really a myth.
You can REPORT this to the police and/or prosecutor. But only the prosecutor can decide whether to bring criminal charges. You can only ASK. But it is not your decision, unfortunately.
So if you ASK the police or the prosecutor, they can tell you exactly, after hearing all the details.
You can go to the Sherriff's office and ask for the "Magistrate" and ask the magistrate to issue a warrant.
Whether it is a misdemeanor (12 months) or a felony (no limit) might depend upon how serious and sever the attack was. So the details can make a difference.
As for the sex, the key question is CONSENT.
SO for example if a husband and wife have sex all the time, it could be said taht the woman's consent was understood. So even if she was asleep, he would have her consent. MAYBE. There is no guarantee. It would be a question for the jury to decide in each case.
However, if anyone else, who did not normally have sex with her, did this, then it is clearly rape. She could not give consent while asleep. If she did not already give consent before taking the medication, then it is sex without consent which is rape.
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