Opinion ID: 2320446
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: False Claims Theory

Text: Velasquez also argues that the trial court erred in precluding cross-examination related to S.L.'s alleged false claims. He relies upon her apparently delusional statements to her doctors accusing her pastor, his wife, and her husband of threatening acts against her. Cross-examination is allowed on similar prior allegations, if they were fabricated. Roundtree, supra, 581 A.2d at 321. Since the Constitution does not require confrontation of witnesses with irrelevant evidence, the very applicability of the Confrontation Clause depends on [the complainant's] prior allegations being false. Id. Cross-examination is required constitutionally only where the prior allegations are shown convincingly to be false. Id. at 322 (citation omitted). In assessing Velasquez' offer of proof, the trial court found significant that the alleged false accusations were not similar to the charges made against Velasquez. Moreover, the accusations were made during a psychotic episode to S.L.'s doctors some three years after the crime. The court found no convincing showing that the allegations were fabricated in a sense supportive of a requirement for cross-examination. Such acts should be probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness. Murphy v. Bonanno, 663 A.2d 505, 509 (D.C.1995) (citation omitted). We agree with the trial court that the concededly delusional claims S.L. made to her doctor bear little relationship to her willingness to lie under oath. Thus, in assessing the offer of proof, the trial court could properly conclude that there existed no factual predicate for inquiry into the statements S.L. made to her doctors while ill. See id. We find no constitutional violation as a result of the trial court's ruling. Further, the trial court acted within its discretion in imposing limits on the cross-examination on matters which were only marginally relevant, at best, and where the danger of unfair prejudice outweighed any probative value. Id. (citations omitted).