Opinion ID: 1952139
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alternate Perpetrator Evidence

Text: [¶ 10] Cole argues that the court erred by excluding evidence of the victim's protection from abuse order against her estranged husband and by preventing the defendant from inquiring any further into why the victim asked her attacker if he was acting for her estranged husband. The defendant concedes that he had no evidence to identify a specific alternate perpetrator. He argues, however, that the statement of the rapist, coupled with the protection from abuse order, suggests that the victim's estranged husband solicited the attack on her. He proposed to present testimony of the husband to the effect that the husband was not acquainted with Cole. The introduction of such evidence would have required the jury to consider several additional issues. First, was the victim's perception and recollection of the rapist's statements accurate? Second, was the rapist speaking honestly or perpetrating a hoax? Third, if in fact the estranged husband solicited the rape, would his denial of any acquaintance with the defendant be persuasive? We conclude that the probative value of that evidence is slight and that the court could properly exclude such evidence pursuant to M.R. Evid. 403 to avoid confusion of the issues and misleading the jury. See State v. Boobar, 637 A.2d 1162, 1172 (Me.1994) (the probative value of alternate perpetrator evidence must be weighed against the danger of confusing or misleading the jury). The entry is: Judgments affirmed.