California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Godwin, D064909 (Cal. App. 2015):
For purposes of child molestation offenses, duress means the defendant's " 'use of a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, hardship or retribution sufficient to cause a reasonable person to do or submit to something that he or she would not otherwise do or submit to.' " (People v. Soto (2011) 51 Cal.4th 229, 246, fn. 9, italics and brackets omitted.) To determine the existence of duress, the totality of the circumstances
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should be considered, including the age of the victim, the defendant's relationship to the victim, and relative size and age disparities. (People v. Veale (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 40, 46-49.) " 'The very nature of duress is psychological coercion' " (id. at p. 48), and in the context of child molestation "it is the defendant's menacing behavior that aggravates the crime . . . ." (People v. Soto, supra, 51 Cal.4th at p. 243). A child under age 14 is deemed legally incapable of giving consent, and accordingly evidence showing the defendant's use of duress is not obviated by the fact that the child may have appeared to consent. (Id. at pp. 245-246 [the child's consent or lack thereof is immaterial; the focus is on the conduct of the defendant].)
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