State v. Walton
| Decision Date | 09 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A02-9608-CR-492,49A02-9608-CR-492 |
| Citation | 692 N.E.2d 496 |
| Parties | STATE of Indiana, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. John WALTON, Appellee-Defendant. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Following John Walton's acquittal of Rape 1 and Criminal Deviate Conduct, 2 the State appeals a reserved question of law 3 contending that the trial court erred in permitting the introduction of evidence that the victim had made demonstrably false allegations of a prior rape. We discuss the following issues:
I. Whether the common law exceptions to the Rape Shield Rule which permitted the introduction of evidence that the victim had made prior allegations of rape shown to be demonstrably false survived the adoption of Indiana Rule of Evidence 608(b), which prohibits the introduction of specific instances of conduct to attack or support credibility, and Indiana Rule of Evidence 412 which, with limited exceptions, bars evidence of a victim's past sexual history;
II. Whether the foundational requirements for the introduction of evidence that the victim had made demonstrably false allegations of a prior rape were satisfied when the victim denies making the accusations and the occurrence of a prior rape; and
III. Whether Indiana Rule of Evidence 412 violates the defendant's rights of due process.
The State charged Walton with rape and criminal deviate conduct. Prior to trial, and in accordance with Indiana Rule of Evidence 412(b), Walton notified the court of his intent to present evidence that the alleged victim had made demonstrably false prior allegations of rape. The court held an evidentiary hearing at which Walton presented the testimony of two of the victim's former co-workers and friends, that the victim had made prior false allegations of rape. The victim testified and denied having made any allegations of rape and denied that a previous rape had occurred. In its pre-trial order, the trial court declared that the victim had made a prior allegation of rape and that because the victim "acknowledges that the prior rape did not occur," Record at 85, the evidence regarding the prior allegations of rape was admissible.
on the Common Law Exceptions to the Rape Shield Rule
The parties style the issue before the court as whether the common law exceptions 5 to the Rape Shield Rule allow the admissibility of demonstrably false prior accusations of rape in light of the provisions of Indiana Evidence Rule 412. We must also, however, consider the impact of Rule 608(b) on the admissibility of such evidence. 6
The Indiana Rules of Evidence went into effect on January 1, 1994. Rule 608(b) states, in relevant part: "For the purpose of attacking or supporting the witness's credibility, other than conviction of a crime as provided in Rule 609, specific instances may not be inquired into or proven by extrinsic evidence." Rule 608(b) is a restatement of prior Indiana law that a witness may not be impeached by proof of specific extraneous acts of misconduct which have not been reduced to criminal convictions. Randall v. State, 455 N.E.2d 916, 928 (Ind.1983). The case law carved out an exception to this rule against character impeachment by prior conduct in sex offense cases and allowed for the introduction of evidence of specific instances of conduct if the act was a demonstrably false prior allegation of conduct similar to that with which the defendant was charged. Little v. State, 413 N.E.2d 639, 643-44 (Ind.Ct.App.1980). The reasoning underlying this exception is that sex offense cases often rest solely on a determination of the credibility of the accusing witness. "Courts will often allow a wider latitude for impeachment or cross-examination of a prosecuting witness in a sex offense case, because of the relative ease of bringing such a charge and the relative difficulty of proving or disproving it." Nancy M. King, Annotation, Impeachment or Cross-Examination of Prosecuting Witnesses in Sexual Offense Trial by Showing that Prosecuting Witness Threatened to Make Similar Charges Against Other Persons, 71 A.L.R.4th 448, 451 (1989).
Indiana's Rape Shield laws generally prohibit the admission of evidence relating to a rape victim's sexual history. IC 35-37-4-4. The purpose of the rule is to protect the privacy of victims of sex crimes by prohibiting a general inquiry into their sexual history. Steward v. State, 636 N.E.2d 143, 148 (Ind.Ct.App.1994), aff'd, 652 N.E.2d 490 (Ind.1995). The rules prevent the victim from being tried rather than the defendant. Id. It also furthers the interest of judicial economy by avoiding trying the prior allegation in the context of the present case.
Rule 412(a) incorporates the basic principles of IC 35-37-4-4, 7 and states, in part:
"(a) In a prosecution for a sex crime, evidence of the past sexual conduct of a victim or witness may not be admitted, except:
(1) evidence of the victim's or witness's past sexual conduct with the defendant;
(2) evidence which shows that some person other than the defendant committed the act upon which the prosecution was founded;
(3) evidence that the victim's pregnancy at the time of trial was not caused by the defendant; or
(4) evidence of conviction for a crime to impeach under Rule 609."
Indiana Evidence Rule 101(a) provides that "[i]f these rules do not cover a specific evidence issue, common or statutory law shall apply." Rule 608(b) did not address the issue. Because the exception existed at common law, because Rule 608(b) is a restatement of the common law, because Rule 412(a) is a restatement of prior common and statutory law, and because the reasoning underlying the exception still obtains, we conclude that the common law exceptions to the Rape Shield Rule survived the adoption of the Indiana Rules of Evidence.
The second issue presented is whether the evidentiary foundation for the introduction of evidence of prior false allegations of rape by the victim was satisfied. The supreme court in Stewart v. State recognized two exceptions to the general rule of non-admissibility: (1) the victim has admitted that she made a prior false accusation of sexual misconduct; or (2) her prior accusation is demonstrably false. 531 N.E.2d 1146, 1149 (Ind.1988) (citing Little, 413 N.E.2d at 643).
The defendant in Stewart molested a three-year-old boy, and the victim's ten-year-old brother (T.C.) witnessed the incident. The defendant wanted to present evidence of a prior sexual accusation relating to T.C.'s credibility. The court held that because "a determination remained whether T.C. did in fact make the accusation and if so, whether it was false, with the outcome relying upon a judgment of the credibility of the witnesses[,]" the trial court properly excluded the evidence. Stewart, 531 N.E.2d at 1149.
In Kelley v. State, 566 N.E.2d 591, 593 (Ind.Ct.App.1991), this court upheld the exclusion of an alleged prior allegation of rape where the defendant failed to show that it was demonstrably false. The court based its decision on the defendant's failure to show either that the victim had recanted the accusation or that there had been a trial and the person charged had been found not guilty, showing demonstrative falsity. 8 Id.; see also Perry v. State, 622 N.E.2d 975, 980 (Ind.Ct.App.1993).
In Koo v. State, 640 N.E.2d 95 (Ind.Ct.App.1994), trans. denied, we held that the trial court acted within its discretion in refusing to allow discovery concerning whether the victim made allegations of rape against other persons. The victim denied ever making a false allegation and also denied that a rape ever occurred. Id. at 103.
The effect of Stewart (and the rule from Little) is to allow the admission of evidence of false accusations of sexual misconduct because such evidence is not concerned with the victim's history of sexual conduct, but with her credibility, and it does not fall within the purview and protection of the rule. If, however, the accusations are true, they would be inadmissible under the Rape Shield Rule because such accusations concern evidence of the victim's sexual conduct. Little, 413 N.E.2d at 643.
Here, Walton contends the alleged prior demonstrably false allegations of rape were properly admitted to show the prosecuting witness' propensity to falsely accuse others of sexual misconduct toward her and are evidence of her credibility. The victim denied ever having made the accusations, although Walton offered evidence that she made prior allegations of rape through the testimony of two witnesses. She also testified that she had never been raped prior to the event at issue. Here, the situation is distinguishable from that in Little and Hall in which the victims admitted that the accusations they made were false. Therefore, the first exception set out in Little does not apply to the allegations in this case. Although Walton suggests that the prosecuting witness admitted making a prior false allegation of rape, the Record indicates otherwise. Record at 217-22, 579-80. The prosecuting witness' testimony was not an admission of falsity or a recantation of the allegations, but a denial of having made a prior allegation of sexual misconduct.
Thus, we must consider whether the evidence is admissible through the second Little exception: whether the victim's prior accusations of rape were demonstrably false. Here, this is a two stage inquiry: were the prior accusations made by the victim and, if so, were they demonstrably false.
The Little court defined "demonstrably false" with regard to allegations of prior sexual misconduct as where "the prosecutrix [has] admitted the falsity of the charges...
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