United States v. Thomas

Thomas, McClellan (defendants), and a third serviceman drove an intoxicated woman between bars, and when she later collapsed in the car, each of the three either had or attempted to have sexual intercourse with her while believing she was merely unconscious. When she failed to wake, the men grew frightened and sought help; she was found to be already dead, with an autopsy later showing she had died earlier that evening of a pre-existing heart condition unrelated to the men's conduct. Charged with conspiracy to commit rape, rape, and lewd and lascivious conduct, the men argued it was legally impossible to rape a woman who was already dead. They were acquitted of rape but convicted of attempted rape and the remaining charges; a military board of review set aside the attempted-rape and conspiracy convictions, and the matter reached the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.