Opinion ID: 2326611
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Evidence of Prior Acts with Fred Greene

Text: Before trial, the state moved in limine to prevent defendant from eliciting any evidence relative to a sexual assault perpetrated upon Mary by Fred Greene in 1990, for which Greene was tried and convicted. [4] The defendant also moved in limine requesting the court to allow such evidence. He asserted that evidence of the assault should have been admissible to show [Mary's] knowledge of sex acts or specific sex acts that she had described in the present case. Both motions were heard after the jury was impaneled, but before opening statements. The focus of the hearing on the motions was whether evidence of Mary's previous sexual activities was protected by the rape shield statute, G.L.1956 § 11-37-13, which permits a defendant to introduce evidence that the complaining witness engaged in prior sexual conduct, only upon prior notice and a specific offer of proof. If then the court finds the evidence to be relevant, it may be admitted. State v. Dorsey, 783 A.2d 947, 954 (R.I.2001) (citing State v. Oliveira, 576 A.2d 111, 113 (R.I.1990)). The trial justice ruled that the assault by Fred Greene occurred seven or eight years ago and was not relevant. The defendant renewed his request to question Mary about the incident during his cross-examination of Mary, with a similar result. It seems apparent from the transcripts that the basis of the court's ruling was the fact that Mary's allegation had been conclusively established by Fred Greene's subsequent conviction as being true. On appeal, defendant asserts that such evidence should have been admissible to demonstrate Mary's knowledge of specific sexual acts. The rape shield statute was enacted to encourage victims to report crimes without fear of inviting unnecessary probing into the victim's sexual history. Dorsey, 783 A.2d at 954 (citing Oliveira, 576 A.2d at 113). Evidence of the complaining witness's sexual history is admissible provided defendant makes a specific offer of proof and the trial justice finds the sexual history relevant. Id. This Court has held that evidence of false accusations by the complaining witness is admissible to negate the offense with which a defendant is charged. Oliveira, 576 A.2d at 113. Furthermore, evidence of a complaining witness'[s] withdrawal of a rape charge against a man other than the defendant is admissible as a challenge to the complaining witness'[s] credibility in the defendant's rape trial. Id. In Oliveira, 576 A.2d at 113, we also held that evidence of an eleven-year-old victim's accusations should have been admitted to demonstrate to the jury that she had other sources for her knowledge of the sexual acts she described, even though her allegations were neither proven false nor withdrawn. The admission or exclusion of evidence on grounds of relevancy is within the sound discretion of the trial justice and, absent a showing of abuse of this discretion, this Court will not disturb a ruling concerning the admissibility of evidence. State v. Calenda, 787 A.2d 1195, 1199 (R.I.2002) (per curiam) (quoting McBurney Law Services, Inc. v. Apex, Inc., 771 A.2d 911, 911-12 (R.I.2001) (mem.)). Here, we see no abuse of discretion in the trial justice's decision to exclude evidence of Fred Greene's prior assault on Mary. Clearly, the proffered evidence had no relevance with respect to Mary's credibility. Fred Greene had been convicted, conclusively establishing the truthfulness of her accusations. It was not the function of the Superior Court to retry that case in an effort to impugn Mary's credibility. The assault occurred seven or eight years before the trial. Also, unlike the eleven-year-old victim in Oliveira, Mary was nineteen years old, albeit cognitively limited, at the time she testified. Therefore, the jury would have been less likely to draw the inference that she was so sexually naive she could not have fabricated the charge. See, e.g., State v. Jacques, 558 A.2d 706, 708 (Me.1989). Moreover, the trial justice allowed defendant to cross-examine Mary about two more recent sexual encounters, one of which involved allegations of sexual acts strikingly similar to those of which Fred Greene had been convicted. We conclude, therefore, that the trial justice was well within his discretionary authority to exclude any reference to the sexual assault perpetrated by Fred Greene because such evidence was not relevant. Therefore it was cumulative, and was further shielded by § 11-37-13.