Court Says Consensual Sex Can't Become Rape

"Yes," the woman testified. "I said that as long as he stops when I tell him to," he could do it.

The woman testified that she didn't feel that she could turn him down.

"Something just clicked off, and I just did whatever they said," she testified.

Baby began to have sex with her, but the woman said she felt pain and indicated that she wanted him to stop. She said he stopped "five or so seconds" after she made the request. Baby testified that the sex was consensual, that he explicitly told her "I'm not going to rape you" and that he stopped as soon as she expressed discomfort.

The trio returned to a McDonald's restaurant in Montgomery Village, where they had been earlier. Before departing, the woman and Wilson hugged, and she gave Baby her phone number. Hours later, the woman told a friend's mother what had happened -- a delayed reaction that prosecutors ascribed to "rape trauma syndrome."

Baby and Wilson were charged as adults with first-degree rape, among other charges. Wilson pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and was sentenced to 18 months. Baby's first trial before a jury of 11 men and one woman ended in a mistrial. In his second trial, Baby was convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and third-degree sexual offense.

In its decision, the appeals court notes that Maryland, like North Carolina, has held on to the legal view that a woman cannot be raped after she has agreed to have sex. In those cases, defendants can be charged with sexual assault.

Some other states have changed this area of the law through legislative initiatives and precedent-setting cases that have established that a woman can be raped even if she initially consents to have sex.

Foster, who has prosecuted dozens of rape cases, said he hopes Maryland will join them.

"There are a lot of scenarios where we really need to think this through," Foster said. For example, he said, a woman could agree to have sex but later object if she learns that the man is not wearing a condom or has a sexually transmitted disease.