## Facts

- A 17-year-old complainant and Kenny Lopez had sexual intercourse in a wooded area near the complainant’s residence.
- The complainant testified she repeatedly told Lopez she did not want to have sex and that he forced intercourse.
- Lopez testified the encounter was consensual and voluntary.
- A Superior Court jury convicted Lopez of rape and indecent assault and battery.
- Lopez requested a jury instruction allowing acquittal if he honestly and reasonably believed the complainant consented; the trial judge denied the request.
- Lopez appealed; the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts heard the case on direct review.

## Issues

1. Whether Massachusetts rape law requires a jury instruction on mistake of fact as to consent when a defendant claims an honest and reasonable belief in consent.
2. Whether an honest and reasonable mistake about consent negates any element of rape under Massachusetts law, entitling the defendant to the requested instruction.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions.
- The court held Massachusetts rape is a general-intent crime requiring proof of intercourse against the victim’s will by force or threat of force, not proof the defendant knew of nonconsent.
- Because the Commonwealth need not prove a culpable mental state regarding consent, a defendant’s claimed belief in consent does not negate a required element and does not warrant a mistake-of-fact instruction.
- The evidence was sufficient to support the convictions for rape and indecent assault and battery.

## Legal Principles

- To prove rape, the Commonwealth must establish sexual intercourse against the victim’s will by the use of, or imminent threat of, force.
- Rape is a general-intent offense in Massachusetts; the required intent is the intent to engage in intercourse, not an intent or knowledge that the intercourse is nonconsensual.
- A mistake-of-fact instruction is required only when the asserted mistake, if believed, would negate the mental state required for the charged offense.
- A defendant’s honest and reasonable belief in the complainant’s consent is not a defense to rape under Massachusetts law because it does not negate any element the Commonwealth must prove.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Lopez’s convictions, ruling that Massachusetts rape law does not recognize an honest-and-reasonable mistake of consent as a basis for acquittal and therefore does not require a corresponding jury instruction.


Commonwealth v. Lopez, 433 Mass. 722 (2001)