Opinion ID: 1752594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sexual history

Text: Cooper's fourth claim of error is that the trial judge erred in refusing to allow him to question the victim concerning her sexual history. He concedes that the Rape Shield Act (Ark.Code Ann. § 16-42-101 (Repl.1994)) would normally bar questions concerning the victim's prior sexual conduct. However, he argues that the prosecutor opened the door to this evidence when he introduced the fact that the victim had contracted a sexually transmitted disease, Trichomonas Vaginitis, at the same time as her mother. That evidence was prejudicial to Cooper, he maintains, and he should have been allowed to cross-examine A.C. on this matter. An in camera hearing was held on Cooper's motion requesting permission to explore other possibilities of how A.C. contracted the disease. The trial judge denied the motion on the basis of the general proscription in the Rape Shield Act against using prior sexual conduct to attack the credibility of the victim or to prove consent or any other defense. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-42-101(b) (Repl.1994). Cooper stopped with the judge's ruling and did not pursue his motion under subsection (c) of the Act on grounds of relevancy or based on the fact that the probative value of the prior sexual conduct outweighed its prejudicial impact. Nor did he proffer to the court what he hoped to prove on cross-examination to show prejudice which makes any determination of prejudice by this court all but impossible. Roe v. State, 310 Ark. 490, 837 S.W.2d 474 (1992). We do not mean to suggest that had Cooper done so the cross-examination would have been allowable. We simply observe that the procedures for pursuing an exception to the Rape Shield Act were not followed to conclusion. We find no abuse of discretion by the trial judge in denying the motion. See Laughlin v. State, 316 Ark. 489, 872 S.W.2d 848 (1994).