State v. Delawder case brief

 

State v. Delawder: D being convicted of statutory rape wanted to present evidence in his defense of the victim’s sexual past. The defense’s strategy was to discredit the victim by proving at the time of the incident, she thought she was pregnant by someone else and claimed that D raped her b/c she was afraid to tell her mother she voluntarily had sex with others. To show she thought she was pregnant, it was necessary to establish she has had sex prior to the incident. The court finds for D, allowing evidence of her sexual history b/c in relating this case to that of Davis, the desirability that the victim be free from embarrassment with an unblemished reputation must fall before the right of D to seek out truth in the process of defending himself.

1. Sixth Amendment and Rape Shield Laws: Should the victim’s sexual history be revealed under the Confrontation Clause of the 6^th Amendment, which protects D’s right to effectively cross-examine a witness by discrediting her story or revealing her biases?