This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

D, 19, had sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old female, not his wife. The offense is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The trial court spared D the prison term, conditioned on a probationary completion of a halfway house program. D's defense was that the girl told him she was 18 and D had made a mistake as to her age. The girl testified that she participated in the act voluntarily, but that she told D that she was fifteen years old. The trial court excluded any further testimony by D concerning the reasonableness of his belief as to the girl's age and instructed the jury that mistake as to the girl's age was no defense to the charge. The court ruled that the crime was a strict liability crime and mistake as to age was irrelevant. The court refused to let D testify as to his mistake in her age. D was convicted and appealed. The conviction was affirmed and D petitioned for a rehearing.

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