Cirilo Aviles v. State ( 2014 )

Fourth Court of Appeals
San Antonio, Texas
MEMORANDUM OPINION
No. 04-13-00490-CR
Cirilo AVILES,
Appellant
v.
The State of
The STATE of Texas,
Appellee
From the 144th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2010CR9545
The Honorable Angus K. McGinty, Judge Presiding
Opinion by: Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice
Sitting: Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice
Marialyn Barnard, Justice
Delivered and Filed: July 9, 2014
AFFIRMED
In a single issue on appeal, appellant asserts the trial court erred by refusing his request to
instruct the jury on the defense of “mistake of fact.” We affirm.
BACKGROUND
The State indicted appellant for aggravated sexual assault of a child under section 22.021
of the Texas Penal Code. The relevant portion of the indictment alleged appellant “did
intentionally and knowingly cause the penetration of the sexual organ of M.R., a child who was
younger than fourteen years, by [appellant’s] sexual organ.” During the jury charge conference,
04-13-00490-CR
the defense requested a mistake of fact instruction with respect to M.R.’s age, which the trial court
denied. A jury subsequently found appellant guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child under
the age of fourteen, and the trial court assessed punishment at fifteen years’ confinement.
DISCUSSION
On appeal, appellant asserts he was entitled to a mistake of fact instruction with respect to
M.R.’s age. Appellant acknowledges mistake of fact is not an applicable defense in offenses
prosecuted under section 22.011 (sexual assault) and section 21.11 (indecency with a child) of the
Texas Penal Code. However, appellant asserts that because he was prosecuted under section
22.021 (aggravated sexual assault), those cases holding that mistake of fact is not a defense do not
apply to him. We disagree.
A person commits the offense of aggravated sexual assault if the person intentionally or
knowingly causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by any means if the victim
is younger than fourteen years of age. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.021(a)(1)(B)(i), (2)(B)
(West 2011). When a charge of any sexual offense against a child is made, mistake of fact or the
accused’s ignorance of the victim’s age is not a defense. See Black v. State, 26 S.W.3d 895, 898–
99 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (“Nor is mistake of fact with respect to the victim’s age a defense to
[sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault].”) (citing Vasquez v. State, 622 S.W.2d 864, 866 (Tex.
Crim. App. 1981)); Byrne v. State, 358 S.W.3d 745, 748–52 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2011, no
pet.) (addressing constitutionality of strict liability statutory rape statute and concluding mistake
of fact defense does not apply). Recently, the Court of Criminal Appeals reaffirmed this position,
stating:
In prosecutions for sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault the defendant need
not know that the victim is a child, and a child cannot consent to sexual acts. These
are all strict liability offenses when it comes to child victims. Therefore, we have
long held that even a very reasonable mistake of fact with respect to the child
victim’s age is not a defense to sex offenses.
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04-13-00490-CR
Ex parte Burns, No. WR-69222-03, 2012 WL 243686, at *4 (Tex. Crim. App. Jan. 25, 2012)
(mem. op., not designated for publication) (J. Cochran, concurring). Accordingly, we conclude
appellant was not entitled to an instruction on the defense of mistake of fact. Therefore, we affirm
the trial court’s judgment.
Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice
Do not publish
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