Opinion ID: 1771042
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Trial Court Erred in Refusing to Allow the Introduction of Testimony Regarding the Previous Sexual Activity of the Alleged Victim's Mother.

Text: At trial White wished to introduce evidence of Sharon White's previous sexual activity in order to show that D.M.'s trichomonas could have been contracted via her mother through infected towels or clothing. The trial judge granted the state's motion in limine to keep out such evidence on grounds of irrelevancy to the issue at trial, which was whether or not White had engaged in unlawful sexual activity with his 11-year-old daughter. The significance about D.M.'s trichomonas was that it explained the circumstances which prompted Sharon to confront her daughter about the stains in her underwear, and further prompted her to ask D.M. if she had been sexually active. The testimony about the trichomonas was not offered as proof of White's guilt. In fact, there was no evidence that White himself had the disease. The evidence showed that Sharon had been previously treated for trichomonas and that the treatment assumed that her sexual partner was infected. Sharon testified that her only sexual partner since she was 14 was White. She was open to cross examination on this issue. Cf. Horne v. State, 487 So.2d 213, 216 (Miss. 1986); Myers v. State, 296 So.2d 695, 700 (Miss. 1974). Furthermore, White made no proffer of what evidence he would have put on as to Sharon's sex life. Tigner v. State, 478 So.2d 293, 296 (Miss. 1985); Baugh v. State, 388 So.2d 141, 142 (Miss. 1980). White was also successful in getting into evidence, via two expert witnesses, that trichomonas could be transmitted through infected towels and infected clothing, although such cases are extremely rare. In light of the discretion the trial judge has as to the admissibility of evidence on grounds of relevancy, Shearer v. State, 423 So.2d 824, 826 (Miss. 1982), the trial judge did not commit reversible error in keeping out evidence of Sharon's sexual activity.