Court Opinion

ID: 9581194
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:12:27.608599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:46.223586
License: Public Domain

LEVINSON, Judge,
dissenting in part and concurring in part.
I respectfully disagree with the majority opinion’s reasoning and conclusion concerning the application of Rule 412 to the second degree rape conviction. I would find no error in this conviction. I also dissent from the majority’s conclusion that defendant’s conviction for common law robbery should be reversed. I would vote to find no error in the trial of either felony. I concur with the majority’s decision to remand for resentencing in light of Blakely v. Washington, - U.S. -, 159 L. Ed. 2d 403 (2004).
The trial court did not err by excluding evidence of the victim’s sexual activity with her boyfriend. The admissibility of evidence of a victim’s sexual activity with individuals other than the defendant is *397generally prohibited by the rape shield law, N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 412 (2003). Under Rule 412(b)(2), such evidence is admissible if it is “evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior offered for the purpose of showing that the act or acts charged were not committed by the defendant.” “This exception is clearly intended, inter alia, to allow evidence showing the source of sperm, injuries or pregnancy to be someone or something other than the defendant.” State v. Fortney, 301 N.C. 31, 41, 269 S.E.2d 110, 115 (1980). Thus, “evidence showing the source of . . . injuries ... to be someone or something other than the defendant” is admissible. However, “[n]aked inferences of prior sexual activity by a rape victim with third persons, without more, are irrelevant to the defense of consent in a rape trial.” Id. at 44, 269 S.E.2d at 117. In the instant case, there was no evidence that the victim’s prior sexual activities were the source of her injuries; accordingly, the trial court properly excluded evidence of these.
Appellate cases finding error in a trial court’s exclusion of evidence of sexual activity with third parties are those in which there was some evidence tending to support the defense theory that the victim’s injuries or condition were not caused by the defendant. See, e.g., State v. Ollis, 318 N.C. 370, 348 S.E.2d 777 (1986) (where victim testified on voir dire that she was raped by a second man on the same night that the defendant raped her, defendant should be allowed to cross-examine victim about the other rape); State v. Wright, 98 N.C. App. 658, 392 S.E.2d 125 (1990) (where doctor testified that victim’s vaginal irritation might be caused by masturbation, testimony of her grandmother that she frequently saw victim engaged in masturbation was relevant).
In the instant case, the victim testified that defendant forcibly raped her vaginally and also forced her to engage in anal sex. The State presented uncontradicted testimony, from the supervising forensic nurse in the Sexual Assault Program of the hospital where the victim was treated, that the victim suffered multiple “areas of lacerations, skin tears, [and] bruising” of her genital area, including labial lacerations, perineal bruising, and “multiple areas of [rectal] lacerations.” In addition, her cervix was “very bruised and swollen,” and she exhibited “active oozing [and] bleeding” of her anus. The nurse testified further that, although it might be physically “possible” for an individual to receive these injuries by consensual participation in “rough sex,” she found the injuries consistent with sexual assault.
It was in this evidentiary context that the .defendant tried to introduce the evidence that the victim had engaged in consensual sexual *398activity with her boyfriend earlier that day, which activity did not include vaginal or anal intercourse, and which did not hurt or injure the victim. Neither the victim’s testimony on voir dire, nor any other evidence or testimony, suggested any possibility that the earlier sexual activity was the source of the victim’s injuries. Accordingly, the victim’s earlier episode of “fooling around” with her high school boyfriend did not constitute “evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior . . . showing that the act or acts charged were not committed by the defendant” and thus was not admissible under Rule 412(b)(2).
The majority opinion indicates that the evidence of the victim’s other sexual activities with others would be useful to the defense, as a theoretical alternative source of the victim’s vaginal and anal injuries. However, the test for admissibility is not whether or not the proffered evidence would be helpful to the defense, but whether it is legally relevant to an issue in the case. See N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 402 (2003) (“relevant evidence is admissible, . . . Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible”); N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 401 (2003) (“ ‘Relevant evidence’ means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.”). Absent any evidence that the earlier sexual activity caused vaginal or anal injury, it does not tend to show that someone other than the defendant committed the offenses, and thus has no legal relevance. In his brief, defendant baldly asserts that “any tears and fissures as described by [the victim] could just as likely have been created by [the victim’s] encounter with her friend.” However, without some affirmative evidence or testimony supporting this position, it is simply speculation, and does not render otherwise inadmissible testimony admissible.
The defendant argues further that evidence that the victim had sex with someone else was “competent to corroborate the testimony of the defendant that there had been no violence nor any force utilized during the course of the encounter and that the defendant was not the cause of the tears and fissures.” Defendant misstates the law in this regard. Such evidence is admissible only if there is some basis other than the defendant’s denial that he committed rape, tending to show that the other activity led to vaginal tearing.
Moreover, “to receive a new trial, defendant has the burden of showing that there was a reasonable possibility the jury would have reached a different verdict had the error in question not been com*399mitted. N.C.G.S. § 15A-1443(a).” State v. Ligon, 332 N.C. 224, 239, 420 S.E.2d 136, 145 (1992). In the instant case, I conclude that even assuming, arguendo, that the trial court erred by excluding the evidence, the defendant was not prejudiced thereby. The voir dire testimony was that the victim had engaged in consensual sexual activity that did not hurt her, and that did not include vaginal or anal intercourse. This evidence would not have affected the outcome of the trial for several reasons.
First, defendant was able to present evidence that the injuries could have existed before the alleged rape. For example, the forensic nurse acknowledged that the injuries could have occurred 6-12 hours preceding the encounter with the defendant. Secondly, there was uncontradicted expert testimony that the victim’s multiple, severe vaginal and rectal injuries were consistent with a sexual assault. Because the voir dire testimony actually negates the prospect that she was hurt as a result of the earlier encounter — and suggests there was neither vaginal nor anal intercourse — this testimony would have done nothing to rebut or contradict the State’s evidence as to the origin of the injuries. Third, a comparison of the uncontradicted evidence concerning the victim’s injuries with the voir dire testimony leaves little doubt that the jury would have reached the same result.
I would further note that the trial court gave thoughtful consideration to this issue before rendering its ruling. After conducting an extensive voir dire, the trial court weighed the relevancy and Rule 412 issues very carefully, and stated:
I think the Rape Shield law is designed to protect women from the shotgun defense that if she would do it with Jack, she’d do it with Jim[.] . . . And I think the only time it really becomes pertinent, this prior sexual behavior if defendant testifies that she was raped and up until that time — well, there is some — something very significant about the physical activity of some prior event that could have caused the same thing. I think here, even if there’s prior sex, the tearing really is a red- — in some way a red herring. It’s not really — whether it is tearing during consensual or nonconsensual sex, it’s not really dispositive of whether there is a consent between her and Mr. Harris, one way or the other, (emphasis added).
The trial court was correct. The fact that the injuries were «o significant, together with the absence of any suggestion on voir dire that the victim was injured by her boyfriend, supports the trial court’s *400determination that there was no evidence that the injuries originated during earlier sexual activity. Further, as the judge observed, earlier sexual activity of the victim, whether gentle or “rough,” does not bear on the question of the victim’s consent to have sex with defendant. “Although ‘[the] trial court’s rulings on relevancy technically are not discretionary and therefore are not reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard . . . such rulings are given great deference on appeal.’ ” Dunn v. Custer, 162 N.C. App. 259, 266, 591 S.E.2d 11, 17 (2004) (quoting State v. Wallace, 104 N.C. App. 498, 502, 410 S.E.2d 226, 228 (1991)). I cannot conclude, applying deferential review, that the trial court erred by excluding this evidence. .
Finally, I believe that this is precisely the type of evidence that the rape shield law is intended to exclude. Where there is no evidence that places the prior sexual activity within an exception to the statute, its admission serves no valid purpose and is not relevant. In his brief, the defendant states that “the determination of the fact of whether there was forcible penetration is made more probable by evidence of [the victim’s] sexual encounter with another male within 24 hours of the date of the alleged offense in this cause.” This is, of course, exactly what Rule 412 excludes.
I also dissent from the majority opinion that the common law robbery conviction should be reversed because questions related to the victim’s prior sexual encounter may bear on defendant’s common law robbery charge. For the reasons stated above, I disagree. Moreover, defendant does not even make an argument related to whether the trial court’s failure to admit certain evidence should result in a new trial. Defendant’s only argument on appeal is nonsuit. “ ‘Common law robbery is defined as the felonious, non-consensual taking of money or personal property from the person or presence of another by means of violence or fear.’ ” State v. Shaw, 164 N.C. App. 723, 728, 596 S.E.2d 884, 888 (2004) (quoting State v. Herring, 322 N.C. 733, 739, 370 S.E.2d 363, 368 (1988)). There is clearly substantial evidence of every element of the common law robbery offense. I would find no error as to common law robbery.