Also known as: carnal knowledge of · carnally know · carnally knowing · carnally knew · sexual intercourse · unlawful carnal knowledge
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The act of sexual intercourse. At common law the phrase denoted the required physical act in rape and required only slight penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ.
Cameron Cruz and an accomplice broke into a home intending robbery. During the crime the accomplice engaged in sexual intercourse with the resident without consent. The resident died from injuries sustained in the struggle. The prosecution relies on the completed act of carnal knowledge to trigger the presumption of extreme indifference required for murder liability.
Carmen Choi testified that Curtis Cannon, not her husband, entered her apartment and had sexual intercourse with her by force. The prosecution must prove the element of carnal knowledge occurred without effective consent to establish the completed offense.
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After Charles Cunningham suffered severe injuries in an accident caused by Cedar Creek Farms, his wife Cassandra Cooper sued for resulting harm. The complaint alleges that the injuries produced permanent impairment of capacity for sexual intercourse and seeks damages for loss of society and services.
Chloe Chen attended a party where Curtis Cannon secretly added a sedative to her drink. While she was unconscious he had sexual intercourse with her. The prosecution alleges the completed act of carnal knowledge under circumstances that rendered consent impossible.
Police arrested two men in a private residence after observing them engaged in oral sex. The defendants challenged the statute criminalizing the conduct as an unconstitutional intrusion on intimate conduct traditionally described using the phrase carnal knowledge.
Two men were convicted under a statute prohibiting deviate sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex. The Supreme Court held that the statute violated due process because private consensual sexual conduct between adults, including acts once labeled carnal knowledge, lies within a protected liberty interest.
No. Only slight penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ is required. Emission is not necessary to complete the act.
No. The common law marital exemption provided that intercourse by a husband with his wife did not constitute rape because the woman could not be married to the man who committed the act.
The Model Penal Code replaces the archaic phrase with the term sexual intercourse and defines it to include intercourse per os or per anum with some penetration however slight.
Yes. If the defendant through fraud caused the victim to believe that the act was not sexual intercourse then the resulting intercourse constituted rape.
…same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The State of Texas convicted respondents Lawrence and Garner of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of the statute and, in a 5-to-4 decision, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed. The court considered Bowers v. Hardwick , 478 U. S. 186, controlling and held that the statute…