Boggs v. Collins

Facts

Victim alleged that Petitioner-Appellee came to her home, asked to use her bathroom, and, after inside, repeatedly raped her and threatened her with violence. Victim was taken to the emergency room by her mother, who testified at trial that Victim alleged it was Petitioner-Appellee who had assaulted her. Victim was examined by a physician at the hospital, who testified at trial that Victim had several injuries that were, “consistent with the attack she had described . . . [despite not finding] any injuries to the vulva or the vagina.” Numerous other witnesses testified to seeing Petitioner-Appellee the night of the alleged rape, and all testified that Petitioner-Appellee appeared drunk, one testifying that Petitioner-Appellee stated that he, “had told them that he was so drunk that he would ‘not be surprised at anything.'” During trial, Petitioner-Appellee successfully inquired into Victim’s past drug use and mental illness, and Victim acknowledged that she had experienced delusions. When Petitioner-Appellee attempted to ask, during cross-examination of Victim, whether she had made a previous false accusation of rape, however, the court barred examination of the subject.