Opinion ID: 2622875
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the District Court Err in Excluding Evidence of the Victim's Prior Sexual Conduct?

Text: Pursuant to Rule 412 of the Idaho Rules of Evidence, the Defendant filed a pretrial motion seeking permission to admit evidence that the victim had engaged in consensual sexual intercourse with another male approximately one week before the rape. The Defendant contended that such evidence was admissible under Rule 412(b)(2)(A) upon the issue of whether the Defendant was the source of the injuries identified by the physician who was expected to be called, and was later called, by the State. The district court denied the request. The Defendant argues on appeal that he was prejudiced because the jury was prevented from hearing that the victim's injuries may have been caused by someone other than the Defendant. The physician called by the State testified that the victim's injuries showed forcible penetration and that a female would not willingly undergo that trauma. If the jury believed that evidence, it would support the allegations that the Defendant committed rape by having vaginal intercourse with a female whose resistance he overcame with force or by having vaginal intercourse with a female who was unable to resist due to intoxication. However, the jury found the Defendant not guilty of those two counts. Therefore, any error in excluding evidence of such sexual conduct would have been harmless as to those counts. As to the statutory rape count, the only asserted relevance of the evidence was to show that the injuries could have been caused by someone other than the Defendant and that they are therefore not circumstantial evidence supporting the victim's testimony that the Defendant had vaginal intercourse with her on December 26, 2002. Again, any error in excluding the evidence was harmless because the Defendant confessed to having had vaginal intercourse with her that night. [3]