People v. Sharpe
| Decision Date | 10 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | Docket Nos. 155747-155748,Calendar No. 3 |
| Citation | 502 Mich. 313,918 N.W.2d 504 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lovell Charles SHARPE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Bill Schuette, Attorney General, Aaron D. Lindstrom, Solicitor General, Kym L. Worthy, Prosecuting Attorney, Jason W. Williams, Chief of Research, Training, and Appeals, and Madonna Georges Blanchard, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Jones Day (by Syed Ahmadul Huda), Detroit, for defendant.
BEFORE THE ENTIRE BENCH
At issue in this case is whether the rape-shield statute, MCL 750.520j, precludes the prosecutor from admitting evidence of a complainant's pregnancy, abortion, and lack of other sexual partners during a criminal-sexual-conduct prosecution. On interlocutory appeal, the Court of Appeals held that evidence of the complainant's lack of other sexual partners was not subject to the rape-shield statute and was otherwise admissible under the Michigan Rules of Evidence. As to evidence of the complainant's pregnancy and abortion, the Court held that this evidence fell under the purview of the rape-shield statute but was admissible pursuant to the statute's exception for evidence of the victim's past sexual conduct with the actor.
We agree that the entirety of the evidence offered is admissible but hold that none of the evidence falls within the scope of the rape-shield statute. Further, we hold that the entirety of the evidence is otherwise admissible under the Michigan Rules of Evidence. Therefore, we reject the reasoning of the Court of Appeals but affirm its disposition that the offered evidence is admissible.
Defendant was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), MCL 750.520b, two counts of third-degree CSC, MCL 750.520d,1 and one count of fourth-degree CSC, MCL 750.520e, based on allegations that he engaged in sexual penetration and conduct with the 14-year-old complainant, DM. Defendant was in a relationship with DM's mother through early 2015, and he fathered DM's two half-siblings. Defendant did not reside with DM's mother and the three children during his relationship with DM's mother. According to DM's mother's preliminary-examination testimony, DM's mother was hospitalized from December 31, 2013 through January 5, 2014.2 During this time, defendant stayed at DM's mother's apartment to care for the children. DM testified that while her mother was absent from the home, defendant "touched" DM "[e]verywhere." She elaborated that he touched her breasts with his mouth and penetrated her vagina with his penis. Upon further questioning, she answered that this was not the first or the only time she had sexual contact with defendant. She described another incident wherein the same actions occurred at defendant's home while her mother was sleeping in another room.
DM became pregnant. The prosecutor entered DM's medical records into evidence, and the records showed that DM had a positive pregnancy test at Henry Ford Hospital on October 16, 2014, and an abortion at Planned Parenthood on November 17, 2014. DM's mother testified that DM initially refused to tell her mother with whom she had sexual contact. Eventually, in April 2015 and shortly after DM's mother and defendant ended their relationship, DM informed her mother that defendant had impregnated her. On the basis of this testimony, defendant was bound over to the circuit court.
The prosecutor subsequently filed a pretrial motion to admit evidence of (1) DM's pregnancy, (2) DM's abortion, and (3) DM's lack of other sexual partners through November 2014. The trial court granted the motion only as to evidence that DM became pregnant and ruled that the other evidence constituted character evidence inadmissible under MRE 404(a)(3).3
The prosecutor filed an interlocutory appeal, arguing that the entirety of the evidence was admissible under both MRE 404(a)(3) and the rape-shield statute, MCL 750.520j(1), which generally excludes "[e]vidence of specific instances of the victim's sexual conduct, opinion evidence of the victim's sexual conduct, and reputation evidence of the victim's sexual conduct ...." Defendant responded and also cross-appealed the trial court's determination that evidence of DM's pregnancy was admissible, seeking a determination that MRE 404(a)(3) and the rape-shield statute excluded the entirety of the evidence.
In a published opinion, the Court of Appeals determined that all the evidence was admissible. People v. Sharpe , 319 Mich. App. 153, 173, 899 N.W.2d 787 (2017). As to the pregnancy and abortion evidence, the Court of Appeals held that MRE 404(a)(3) did not apply because MRE 404(a)(3) concerns the admissibility of character evidence and, here, the prosecutor was not seeking to introduce evidence of the pregnancy and abortion in order to demonstrate that DM acted in conformity with that character. Id . at 164-165, 171, 899 N.W.2d 787. The Court then concluded that while evidence of DM's pregnancy and abortion was evidence of a specific instance of DM's sexual conduct that would typically be barred by the rape-shield statute, the evidence was admissible under the rape-shield statute's exception for evidence of the victim's past sexual conduct with the actor. Id . at 165, 171, 899 N.W.2d 787. The Court further held that the evidence satisfied the remaining requirements of the rape-shield statute because the evidence was material to a fact at issue—whether sexual penetration occurred—and because the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial nature. Id . at 166, 172-173, 899 N.W.2d 787. Unlike the trial court, the Court of Appeals did not view the abortion evidence to be so prejudicial that it outweighed its probative value. Id . at 172-173, 899 N.W.2d 787.
As to the evidence concerning DM's lack of other sexual partners, the Court of Appeals again concluded that the evidence did not fall under MRE 404(a)(3) because it was not introduced to demonstrate that DM acted in conformity with her lack of sexual partners.
Id . at 168, 899 N.W.2d 787. It further held that the evidence was not barred under the rape-shield statute because the statute excludes specific instances of sexual conduct, not the lack of specific instances of sexual conduct. Id . However, it noted that even if the lack of sexual conduct could be construed as specific instances of sexual conduct, the evidence would be admissible under the rape-shield statute's exception for evidence showing the origin of pregnancy. Id . at 169, 899 N.W.2d 787. The Court then held that the evidence was otherwise admissible under MRE 402 and MRE 403 because the evidence was relevant to and probative of whether intercourse occurred between DM and defendant and because the evidence was minimally prejudicial. Id . at 169-170, 899 N.W.2d 787. Consistently with this ruling, the Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the trial court's ruling and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. Id . at 174, 899 N.W.2d 787.
Defendant sought leave to appeal in this Court. We granted leave to consider the following issues: (1) whether evidence related to the complainant's pregnancy, abortion, and lack of other sexual partners was within the scope of the rape-shield statute, MCL 750.520j(1) ; (2) if so, whether the evidence was nonetheless admissible under one of the exceptions set forth in MCL 750.520j(1) ; and (3) if not, whether the evidence was admissible under general rules governing the admissibility of evidence, such as MRE 402 and MRE 403.4
This Court reviews a trial court's evidentiary decisions for an abuse of discretion.
People v. Mardlin , 487 Mich. 609, 614, 790 N.W.2d 607 (2010). An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court's decision falls outside the range of principled outcomes. People v. Blackston , 481 Mich. 451, 460, 751 N.W.2d 408 (2008). To the extent that the trial court's evidentiary decision involves underlying questions of law, such as whether a statute precludes admissibility of evidence, this Court reviews those questions of law de novo.
People v. Lukity , 460 Mich. 484, 488, 596 N.W.2d 607 (1999).
Until the late twentieth century, Michigan courts considered evidence of a woman's sexual history legally relevant in rape prosecutions. People v. LaLone , 432 Mich. 103, 123-124, 437 N.W.2d 611 (1989) ( ARCHER, J. , concurring in part and dissenting in part). Allegations of rape were perceived as easily fabricated, and, accordingly, a woman's chastity—or lack thereof—was believed to be probative of whether she consented to the sexual act at issue. Id . ; id . at 124, 437 N.W.2d 611 n 14.5 Unsurprisingly, this discouraged women from seeking prosecution of their assailants because they " ‘fear[ed] that the trial proceedings would veer from an impartial examination of the accused's conduct on the date in question and instead take on aspects of an inquisition in which [the] complainant would be required to acknowledge and justify her sexual past.’ " People v. Arenda , 416 Mich. 1, 9, 330 N.W.2d 814 (1982), quoting People v. Khan , 80 Mich. App. 605, 613, 264 N.W.2d 360 (1978).
In 1974, after facing significant criticism of the state's rape laws, the Michigan Legislature passed several reforms that redefined unlawful sexual conduct and created new evidentiary standards for these prosecutions. LaLone , 432 Mich. at 124-125, 437 N.W.2d 611 ( ARCHER, J. , concurring in part and dissenting in part). Among these reforms was the rape-shield statute, MCL 750.520j. Id . MCL 750.520j serves to limit the admissibility of evidence of a complainant's sexual conduct and provides as follows:6
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