What is the consent defense in sexual assault cases?

Consent is a defense to both the rape allegation and the oral copulation allegation in this case. (Pen. Code, 261, subd. (a)(2); 288a, subd. (c)(2)(A).) At trial, defendant relied on what is sometimes termed "the reasonable belief in consent defense," or the "Mayberry defense" after People v. Mayberry (1975) 15 Cal.3d 143. This defense differs from actual consent in that it " 'permits the jury to conclude that both the victim and the accused are telling the truth. The jury will first consider the victim's state of mind and decide whether she consented to the alleged acts. If she did not consent, the jury will view the events from the defendant's perspective to determine whether the manner in which the victim expressed her lack of consent was so equivocal as to cause the accused

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