Bloodworth v. The State case brief

 

Bloodworth v. The State: D had his friend pretend to be a minister and thus had a fake ceremony and married the victim. They have sex, under no force but he pretended to be her husband. The Wyatt case is their precedent – they decide that the case law and the statute had a requirement of force thus someone pretending to be your husband, like in Wyatt, is not rape.

1. Also a question about her capacity to consent:
   1. The court seems to relax its rule about capacity to consent in the context of long-term relationships, etc. (Otherwise, mentally disabled people would not be able to sustain relationship if every instance of sex is questioned in terms of consent).
2. We feel bad for her b/c she seems like she’s on the “spouse/good sex” side of the line but she still wouldn’t pass the “Hughes Test” for deception.