Opinion ID: 1434221
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Importance of the Witness's Testimony in the Prosecution's Case[6]

Text: First, Lieutenant Wolter's testimony was important to the prosecution's case. The prosecution stressed similarities between Jensen's past sexual offense and the current case, relying heavily upon Lieutenant Wolter's detailed description of the earlier event to show the alleged similarities. The prosecution drew detailed parallels between the two offenses throughout voir dire, opening statement, trial and closing argument, hypothesizing that the consistency in Jensen's behavior when perpetuating the two offenses suggested that he had a deliberate method or scheme of having sexual contact with young girls. The jury received an instruction that they might consider the two alleged events together as indicative of a deliberate scheme, an instruction tending to bolster A.M.'s credibility and undermine Jensen's testimony. Although Jensen admitted at trial that he been convicted of a prior offense, he provided no details; the details used by the prosecution to draw parallels between the two offenses came solely from Lieutenant's Wolter's erroneously admitted evidence. The prosecution urged the jury to consider that both girls were young girls known to Jensen. Both were near the same age. Both were alone when approached by Jensen. He touched both of them on the breast through their clothing. He touched one on her butt, the other between her legs. He complimented them both on their looks. Without those details, the prosecution could not have drawn meaningful comparisons between Jensen's past offense and the current case. Because the details of Lieutenant Wolter's testimony were a significant part of the prosecutor's case, the testimony likely substantially impacted the jury's verdict.