State v. Rallison
State v. Rallison, 2023 UT App 34 (Mortensen, J.)
Criminal
The court considered an interlocutory appeal of the district court’s ruling on the admissibility of several items of evidence under rule 412 of the Utah Rules of Evidence, Utah’s version of the “rape shield.” The Utah Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding in part:
- Evidence that of an alleged victim’s consent to sexual activity may be admissible at trial regardless of rule 412 of the Utah Rules of Evidence if it is admissible under rule 403.
- Under Rule 412, a defendant may not admit evidence the victim engaged in other sexual behavior or evidence of a victim’s sexual predisposition to show consent, unless a defendant may admit it under another rule and the evidence involves the accused. Here, evidence of third parties slapping each other’s buttocks is beyond the purview of the rule.