Also known as: rapere · rapio · raptus · rape · abduction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A Latin term formerly used in indictments for rape to allege that the victim was ravished.
Prosecutors charged Roland Rhodes after he raped a convenience-store clerk during a robbery. The old-style indictment opened with the phrase that the defendant rapuit the victim. The jury considered the underlying rape allegation when evaluating the murder count.
Rina Rahman was convicted of raping an adult woman who survived the attack. The indictment used the term rapuit to describe the offense. The court set aside the death sentence because the penalty was disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment when the victim did not die.
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Raven Logistics employee Ravi Reddy was accused after he compelled a coworker to submit by threat of serious bodily injury. The historical indictment alleged that Reddy rapuit the victim by force. The prosecution established the elements of compulsion required for the offense.
Regina Robinson faced capital charges after raping a child in a case that neither intended nor resulted in death. The indictment recited that the defendant rapuit the victim. The Supreme Court held the death penalty disproportionate for this non-homicide offense.
Rowan Russell was tried after an alleged rape. The old indictment used rapuit to charge the sexual assault. The prosecution relied on the traditional wording to allege that the victim had been ravished.
Renata Russo challenged a statute that criminalized statutory rape only for males. The charging document employed the traditional term rapuit. The court sustained the classification because it was substantially related to preventing teenage pregnancy.
The term rapuit is the Latin word for ravished and was used in old indictments to allege that the victim was forcibly violated.
When the indictment alleges rapuit during the commission of robbery or another listed felony, the Model Penal Code presumes the recklessness and extreme indifference required for murder.
No. The Eighth Amendment prohibits capital punishment for the rape of an adult woman when the victim survives, regardless of the wording of the indictment.
The Code requires that the male compel the female victim to submit by force or threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping.
No. The Eighth Amendment bars capital punishment for the rape of a child when the crime neither intended nor caused the child's death.
…physical deformity or mental deficiency," or that a pregnancy "resulting from legally established statutory or forcible rape or incest may constitute a threat to the mental or physical health of the patient," two other physicians "chosen because of their recognized professional competence have examined the…