Opinion ID: 1842931
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Prejudice Versus Probative Value Analysis.

Text: In examining the district court's weighing of the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect, we must clarify Alvey in two respects. First, our observation in that case that doubt of the truth of the proffered testimony would reduce its probative value was incorrect. Actually, the more doubtful the witness's story about previous sexual behavior the more probative it is. In other words, if the alleged victim was untruthful about the earlier sexual encounter with a neighbor, a fact finder might well conclude she was untruthful in accusing this defendant as well. The second aspect of Alvey's probative value/prejudice analysis that should be clarified regards the interests that are to be considered in the weighing process. Is it the interests of the state, the defendant, and the witness? We said in Alvey: The rape-shield law calls upon the trial judge to sort through proffered evidence of a victim's prior sexual activity and, on a case-by-case basis, to weigh whether it would yield more in the truth-finding process than it would cost in devastating the victim's reputation and right to privacy. The rule presupposes that much evidence which the accused wishes to place before a jury will be excluded. This is a cost the legislature has determined must be paid in order to accord evenhanded justice, not only to the accused, but also the accuser. 458 N.W.2d at 853 (emphasis added). This language suggests that the witness's reputation and privacy interests are primary. However, outside a special law such as a rape-shield law (which does not apply here), courts weighing potential prejudice have shown little solicitude for the personal interests and sensibilities of nonparty witnesses. Wigmore has observed that testifying demands sacrifice of time and labor on the part of a witness, [o]r the sacrifice may be of his privacy, of the knowledge which he would preferably keep to himself because of the disagreeable consequences of disclosure. This inconvenience which he may suffer, in consequence of his testimony, by way of enmity or disgrace or ridicule or other disfavoring action of fellow members of the community, is also a contribution which he makes in payment of his duties to society in its function of executing justice. If he cannot always obtain adequate solace from this reflection, he may at least recognize that it defines an unmistakable axiom. When the course of justice requires the investigation of the truth, no man has any knowledge that is rightly private. All that society can fairly be expected to concede is that it will not exact this knowledge when necessity does not demand it.... 8 Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 2192, at 72 (McNaughton rev.1961). In this case, the witness might be embarrassed by evidence of her false account of a sexual encounter. However, a witness is not excused from answering a question on the sole grounds that the answer will be embarrassing, or will subject the witness to disgrace, infamy, or disrepute so long as the information sought is material or relevant. The constitutional provisions that no person may be compelled in a criminal case to give self-incriminating evidence has no application to testimony found disgracing or embarrassing to the witness or subjecting the witness to opprobrium. 98 C.J.S. Witnesses § 541, at 514 (2002) (footnotes omitted). In Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), a key witness for the state was a juvenile who had a record of juvenile offenses. Alaska's law protected the anonymity of juvenile offenders. The defendant sought to cross-examine the witness with regard to his juvenile record, hoping to establish possible bias on the part of the witness. The trial court refused to allow the testimony on the ground disclosure of a juvenile record was prohibited by a state statute. The defendant was convicted and appealed. The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, but the United States Supreme Court reversed, stating: We do not and need not challenge the State's interest as a matter of its own policy in the administration of criminal justice to seek to preserve the anonymity of a juvenile offender. Here, however, [the defendant] sought to introduce evidence of [the witness's] probation for the purpose of suggesting that [the witness] was biased and, therefore, that his testimony was either not to be believed in his identification of [the defendant] or at least very carefully considered in that light. ... [W]e conclude that the State's desire that [the witness] fulfill his public duty to testify free from embarrassment and with his reputation unblemished must fall before the right of [the defendant] to seek out the truth in the process of defending himself. Davis, 415 U.S. at 319-20, 94 S.Ct. at 1112, 39 L.Ed.2d at 355-56 (citation omitted). Even a witness's fear of personal injury generally does not relieve the witness of the duty to provide evidence. See Commonwealth v. Johnson, 365 Mass. 534, 313 N.E.2d 571, 577 (1974) (Relief of witnesses on this ground would encourage intimidation of those in possession of information and proclaim a sorry confession of weakness of the rule of law.). Applying the principles of these authorities to the case before us, we conclude that, while the complaining witness might have been embarrassed by being shown to be a boaster, or even a liar, about a previous sexual experience, this is not the kind of unfair prejudice that will outweigh the probative value of clearly relevant evidence. This is especially so when, as in this case, the countervailing right of a defendant to present a defense to a criminal charge is at stake. See Davis, 415 U.S. at 320, 94 S.Ct. at 1112, 39 L.Ed.2d at 356; see also State v. Cox, 298 Md. 173, 468 A.2d 319, 324-25 (1983) (holding it was reversible error to refuse cross-examination of the victim regarding prior false claims); Commonwealth v. Bohannon, 376 Mass. 90, 378 N.E.2d 987, 990-91 (1978) (same). We conclude that the district court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence of the prior false claim of sexual behavior. Accordingly, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals, affirm the judgment of the district court on the charge of furnishing alcohol to minors, reverse on the sexual-abuse charge, and remand for trial of the charge of sexual abuse. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; JUDGMENT OF DISTRICT COURT AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART; CASE REMANDED.