EvidenceProf Blog has another good post about a rape shield law case. This was Colin Miller's take on the case out of Pennsylvania:
Last April, Preston C. Gaddis was charged with rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault after police said he threw a 19 year-old woman onto the floor and raped her in his Pennsylvania home, despite her pleas that he stop. Last week, Gaddis tried to introduce evidence of the alleged victim's relationship with another woman to prove several elements of his defense. Specifically, he argued, inter alia, that the alleged victim was uncertain about her sexual preference and was using intercourse with him as an attempt to determine whether she was homosexual or heterosexual. He claimed that when the experience did not turn out the way that she expected, she leveled the charges of rape against him despite the sex being consensual. The prosecution opposed the introduction of this evidence, claiming that it was inadmissible under Pennsylvania's version of the Rape Shield Law, which generally prohibits the introduction of past sexual behavior by alleged victims based upon fears that jurors will judge them promiscuous or 'asking for it'.
This week, the court agreed with the prosecution, finding that the evidence of the alleged victim's previous relationship with another woman was inadmissible. What this case thus seems to reveal is that even though Pennsylvania's Rape Shield Law is worded differently than Federal Rule of Evidence 412, they have the same scope.
There is more to the post so go check the whole thing out.
How does this new rape shield law protect the person being accused if he can't give information about what would lead up to a young girl saying that she had been raped? Why she would want to see this person get into trouble or maybe just used his name to cover up 1.him catching her (13) with a young boy of (15) having sex, and him telling them what they were doing was wrong and.later when him and other family member came down hard on her for her behavor and all the trouble she has been in for the past 5 years,so she is out for revenge. 2. Her being pregant by a boy friend that is 18 and she does not want to get him into trouble,
or to let the family know she is having sex. 3. Or for the attention she is getting from mom, dad, sister, and all her friends. If the accused has all this information plus more can it be used to protect him and his family or does he just go down for somthing that this troubled girl has made up? I worked at a boy's home a girls home and a shelter home for 17 years. I know how kids act and I know many times they lie to get them selfs out of trouble and I do belive this is the case. Please let me know how the laws for this work in Wisconsin. Thank You
Geredith Tackes
Posted by: Geredith Tackes | July 17, 2008 at 12:38 PM