Sansevero v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas held that the State failed to prove an essential element of second-degree battery because it did not establish that Sansevero actually knew the victim was twelve years old or younger. The court reversed and modified that conviction to third-degree battery, assessed a one-year county-jail term, credited 390 days served, and remanded for entry of a consistent judgment. The convictions and sentences for rape, residential burglary, and terroristic threatening were not disturbed.

Holdings

1. The phrase "knows to be" in Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-13-202(a)(4)(C) requires proof that the defendant had actual knowledge that the victim was twelve years old or younger.
2. The State failed to present substantial evidence of an essential element of second-degree battery—Sansevero's actual knowledge of K.S.'s qualifying age—so the second-degree-battery conviction could not stand.
3. The court modified the conviction to third-degree battery, a Class A misdemeanor with no knowledge-of-age requirement, imposed the maximum one-year county-jail sentence, and credited Sansevero with 390 days served.

Questions Presented

1. Whether substantial evidence supported Sansevero's second-degree-battery conviction when the State failed to prove that he knew the victim was twelve years old or younger.
2. Whether the statutory phrase "knows to be" in Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-13-202(a)(4)(C) requires proof of the defendant's actual knowledge of the victim's qualifying age.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded