Opinion ID: 1449523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: direct evidence relating to consent

Text: This case is governed by the former rape shield statute, RCW 9.79.150(3) (now recodified as RCW 9A.44.020(3)), which provides in part: In any prosecution for the crime of rape ... evidence of the victim's past sexual behavior ... is not admissible if offered to attack the credibility of the victim and is admissible on the issue of consent only pursuant to the following procedure: (a) A written pretrial motion shall be made by the defendant to the court and prosecutor stating that the defense has an offer of proof of the relevancy of evidence of the past sexual behavior of the victim proposed to be presented and its relevancy on the issue of the consent of the victim. ... (c) If the court finds that the offer of proof is sufficient, the court shall order a hearing out of the presence of the jury, if any, and the hearing shall be closed ... (d) At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds that the evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant regarding the past sexual behavior of the victim is relevant to the issue of the victim's consent; is not inadmissible because its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will create a substantial danger of undue prejudice; and that its exclusion would result in denial of substantial justice to the defendant; the court shall make an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant ... We have had occasion to construe the rape shield statute only once before in a case quite dissimilar in its facts. See State v. Demos, 94 Wn.2d 733, 619 P.2d 968 (1980) (evidence of prior rape complaints by rape victim not admissible where defendant was unable to prove the prior complaints were unfounded). The Washington courts of appeal have addressed the applicability of the statute on several occasions, and thus provide the only existing authority so far in this state. Former RCW 9.79.150(3) makes evidence of the victim's past sexual behavior admissible on the issue of consent only if: (1) it is relevant; (2) its probative value substantially outweighs the probability that its admission will create a substantial danger of undue prejudice; and (3) its exclusion will result in denial of substantial justice to the defendant. Since all three factors must be satisfied before evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior may be admitted to show consent, we will examine each of those factors at some length.