Opinion ID: 1223896
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of Rape Shield Laws Generally

Text: 11. Prior to the development of rape shield laws, evidence of a rape victim's past sexual experience was offered as evidence on various theories of relevance. See Clifford S. Fishman, Consent, Credibility, and the Constitution: Evidence Relating to a Sex Offense Complainant's Past Sexual Behavior, 44 Cath.U.L.Rev. 709, 714-17 (1995). If the rape victim had had prior sexual experience, this might be offered to impeach her credibility or to show her consent to the sexual act in question. See id. at 715. At that time, some believed that evidence of consent to a previous act of sexual intercourse was relevant and material in a criminal trial to a subsequent charge of rape, based on the reasoning that someone who had consented previously would have been more likely to have consented on the particular occasion at issue. See id.; State v. Wood, 59 Ariz. 48, 122 P.2d 416, 418 (1942); People v. Johnson, 106 Cal. 289, 39 P. 622, 623 (1895). Evidentiary use of the complainant's prior sexual conduct, pursuant to various theories of relevance, appeared to have deterred victims of sexual assault from making formal complaints. Fishman, supra, at 716. During the 1940s and the 1960s, governmental agencies and scholars conducted research to determine the extent to which sexual assault crimes were being reported. See J. Alexander Tanford & Anthony J. Bocchino, Rape Victim Shield Laws and the Sixth Amendment, 128 U.Pa.L.Rev. 544, 547 nn. 12-13 (1980) (citing studies of comparing the number of rapes reported with estimates of actual number of rapes). Many concluded that victims' concern for their privacy partly explained the gap between the number of projected or perceived occurrences and the number of actual complaints. See generally Harriett R. Galvin, Shielding Rape Victims in the State and Federal Courts: A Proposal for the Second Decade, 70 Minn.L.Rev. 763, 765 (1986) (describing the impetus behind the nationwide reform of evidentiary law applicable to rape prosecutions that swept through state legislatures and Congress in the mid-1970s). Rape-shield laws, as they are popularly known, reversed the long-standing common-law doctrine that permitted a defendant accused of rape to inquire into the complainant's `character for unchastity,' that is, her propensity to engage in consensual sexual relations outside of marriage. Id. at 765-66 (footnotes omitted). 12. The rape shield laws and evidentiary rules enacted and adopted in recent years [1] address the problem of underreporting and reluctance to testify. See generally Commonwealth v. Joyce, 382 Mass. 222, 415 N.E.2d 181, 185-86 (1981) (discussing the Massachusetts rape shield law as reversing the common law rule that general reputation for unchastity was admissible when consent was in issue). Reformers have argued that inquiries into the sexual history of the rape complainant [chill] her willingness to testify. Moreover, reputation evidence is only marginally, if at all, probative of consent. Id. 415 N.E.2d at 186. Rape shield laws, evidentiary rules, and case law generally limit the admission of prior sexual conduct evidence into trials of charges of criminal sexual penetration or other such criminal sexual contact, such as this case, unless such evidence can be demonstrated to be material to the defendant's theory and the trial court is persuaded that the probative nature of the evidence equals or outweighs its prejudicial effect. However, statutes, rules, and cases vary. [2] 13. Some jurisdictions have chosen to make such evidence admissible only on a particular issue or issues. For example, in the State of Washington, such evidence is admissible to prove the victim's consent only when the perpetrator and the victim have engaged in sexual intercourse with each other in the past. Wash.Rev.Code § 9A.44.020 (1996). In Winfield v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 211, 301 S.E.2d 15, 19 (1983), the Virginia Supreme Court distinguished its statute from others. Most of these [rape shield laws] limit or prohibit the admission of general reputation evidence as to the prior unchastity of the complaining witness but some, like ours, permit the introduction of evidence of specific acts of sexual conduct between the complaining witness and third persons in carefully limited circumstances. Id. (citing Tanford and Bocchino, supra, at 592-602). 14. In State v. Herndon, 145 Wis.2d 91, 426 N.W.2d 347, 352 (App.1988), overruled on other grounds sub nom. State v. Pulizzano, 155 Wis.2d 633, 456 N.W.2d 325, 330-31 (1990), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals characterizes Wisconsin as following the approach Professor Galvin identifies as the Michigan approach. Galvin, supra, at 907. Herndon describes [t]he rape shield laws which follow the Michigan approach [as] general prohibitions on prior sexual conduct or reputation evidence [that] have highly specific exceptions allowing for this evidence in those circumstances in which it is highly relevant and material to the presentation of a defense and therefore constitutionally required. Id. 426 N.W.2d at 352-53. Professor Galvin lists twenty-five states as following the Michigan approach, including Virginia and Wisconsin. Id. at 907, tbl. 1(A). In these states, statutes have stripped courts of their discretion to determine the relevancy of sexual conduct evidence on a case-by-case basis. Galvin, supra, at 773. 15. The Federal Rules of Evidence generally prohibit admission of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior, except (a) when evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior by the alleged victim is offered to prove that a person other than the accused was the source of semen, injury, or other physical evidence; (b) when evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior between the victim and the defendant is offered to prove consent or offered by the prosecution; or (c) when exclusion of such evidence would violate the constitutional rights of the defendant. Fed.R.Evid. 412. Some states have modeled their statutes on the federal rule. See Galvin, supra, at 907, tbl. 1(C). Professor Galvin lists Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New York and Oregon. Id. 16. Other states' laws do not have such specific limitations. These statutes restrict the admission of prior sexual conduct for any purpose. See, e.g., Ark.Code Ann. § 16-42-101(c) (1994). New Mexico's statute falls in this group. See § 30-9-16(A). In such states, the trial court usually conducts a pretrial hearing in which the parties offer evidence and argument on the probative value and the material nature of the evidence. See § 30-9-16(C). Under some statutes, the trial court must then balance probative value against prejudicial effect to decide whether to allow the admission of the evidence. See id.; see also Ark.Code Ann. § 16-42-101(c)(2)(C). In Idaho, the statute simply authorizes the court to exercise discretion; the statute contains no explicit legislative direction on how the court should exercise its discretion. Idaho Code § 18-6105. Professor Galvin includes Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Wyoming in this group, along with Arkansas, Idaho, New Mexico and Texas. See Galvin, supra, at 907, tbl. 1(B). She characterizes such statutes as following the Texas approach, under which the trial court has broad discretion to admit or exclude evidence of prior sexual conduct based on a pre-trial or in camera hearing at which the judge considers an offer of proof and weighs probative value against prejudicial effect. See id. at 774. She characterizes this group as providing trial court judges nearly unfettered discretion to admit sexual conduct evidence merely upon a showing of relevancy under traditional standards, that is, when probative value outweighs prejudicial effect. Id. 17. Professor Galvin identifies a fourth approach as the California approach. Id. at 775. Under the California approach, sexual conduct evidence is separated into two broad categories depending on the purpose for which it is offered. Evidence is categorized as either substantive evidence, which is offered to prove consent by the complainant, or credibility evidence, offered to attack her credibility. Id. Professor Galvin includes Delaware, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington in this group. Id. at 907, tbl. 1(D).