Following a jury trial, Daniel Judice was convicted on one count of attempted statutory rape and one count of child molestation. He appeals his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict of acquittal as to the statutory-rape and child-molestation counts and in charging the jury on attempted statutory rape. For the reasons set forth infra , we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,1 the record shows that in the early evening of January 7, 2007, 19-year-old Daniel Judice and one of his friends were “hanging out” with 14-year-old S. W. at the home of her grandparents where she lived. Initially, Mr. Judice and his friend watched television with S. W. and helped her download music to her computer in her bedroom. Later in the evening, however, Judice, his friend, and S. W. took some prescription anti-anxiety medication Xanax, which Judice’s friend had brought with him so that the three of them, according to S. W., could get “messed up.” At some point after midnight, Judice and S. W. began kissing in her bedroom, and Judice’s friend left. Then, with S. W. lying on the edge of her bed, Judice unbuttoned his pants, positioned himself between S. W.’s legs, and began rubbing the upper inside part of S. W.’s thighs.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent bedroom, S. W.’s grandfather awoke to the sound of voices and someone saying “I’m leaving.” As the grandfather walked out of his own bedroom, he saw Mr. Judice’s friend walking down the hall toward the front door of the house. Although the grandfather had seen Judice and his friend in the house earlier in the evening when he returned home from work, he thought that the two young men had left around the time he went to bed. The grandfather then turned toward S. W.’s bedroom to check on her, and as he opened her door, he saw S. W. lying on her bed with Judice positioned between her legs, making thrusting motions. Startled by S. W.’s grandfather entering the room, Judice jumped up, at which point S. W.’s grandfather saw him push his exposed privates back into his pants while trying to button them. Immediately, the grandfather grabbed Judice and told him to leave, which he did post haste. S. W. would not talk to her grandfather about the incident, and consequently, her grandfather did not report what had happened to the police until he learned Judice’s name from a friend several days later.
