Opinion ID: 2631632
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Prior false allegations/prior sexual behavior and exposure

Text: The victim had previously made allegations of sexual assault against David, schoolmates, and Abbott. Against David, the victim told a friend that David touched her `privates' and it felt good. The friend's mother called Tracy to let her know. When Tracy questioned the victim about this, the victim first denied making the statement but then told her mother that David did touch her. Tracy asked the victim to show her how David touched her and the victim rubbed Tracy's back. Tracy then asked the victim if it was true that David had touched her privates, and the victim said no. Regarding schoolmates, the victim claimed that a boy at school grabbed her buttocks. There were no witnesses, and when the boy was questioned he denied the story to the point of tears. The victim also accused a boy when she was three or four years old of touching her on the buttocks in the bathroom at daycare. Daycare personnel told Tracy and David that this was not possible because the children are not allowed to go into the bathroom together, and a teacher stands at the door while the child is in the bathroom. Tracy and David dismissed the victim's report as an exaggeration. Against Abbott, when the victim was living in Colorado, she told Tracy that Abbott had sex with her while he was visiting them. Tracy had gone to the grocery store, and Abbott and the victim remained at the house. The victim said that Abbott pulled her pants down and had sex with her. Tracy took the victim to see a counselor, and Tracy also took her for a physical examination, which proved normal. The Lakewood Police Department investigated these allegations. Throughout the investigation, Tracy and David maintained that they did not believe the allegations and did not think that this event had occurred because of the victim's prior false accusations. Both Tracy and David noted that their bitter divorce could have been the cause of the allegations. During the investigation, the victim often recanted her story, saying that it was a dream and that she made it up for attention. The Lakewood Police Department closed the case, declining prosecution because it was not winnable. Regarding other sexual behavior and experiences, the victim had previously inserted various items, including Styrofoam balls and multiple erasers into her vagina. The victim once pole danced on Tracy's four-poster bed following a visit with David and his adult-dancer girlfriend Francesca. The victim had also seen her father and Francesca showering together and had talked with her mother about why the victim could not be in the bathroom with Abbott when he showered and about why Tracy and Abbott did not shower together too. On another occasion, David noticed that the victim was fidgeting and that her vagina was very red, and he thought that her hymen was gone. The victim claimed that a playmate was putting his fingers in the area, and David had her examined. The medical examination was normal. Finally, the victim was also caught watching a pornographic movie showing a male and female having sex. Based on the above, Abbott asked for an independent psychological examination of the victim and also asked to have the above evidence admitted. The State moved for admission of the Colorado allegation against Abbott as a prior bad act. The district court denied the parties' requests, ordering that the prior false allegations were inadmissible because they would confuse the jury. The district court also ordered that no evidence regarding the victim's prior sexual conduct, experiences, and behavior would be admissible. Following a jury trial, Abbott was convicted of both counts of lewdness with a minor under the age of fourteen. He received two concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole after ten years. Abbott appeals his conviction, arguing that the district court abused its discretion by refusing his request for an independent psychological examination and refusing to admit evidence of prior false allegations.