Evidence keyed to Waltz
Olden v. Kentucky
Facts
The Petitioner and Charlie Ray Harris (“Mr. Harris”), both black, were indicted for kidnapping, rape, and forcible sodomy. The victim, Starla Matthews (“Ms. Mathews”), was a young white woman and was married at the time of the incident. Ms. Matthews gave inconsistent accounts of what happened, and her testimony was only corroborated by one witness, Bill Russell (“Mr. Russell”). The Petitioner argued that Ms. Matthews and Mr. Russell were involved in an affair with each other and Mr. Matthews lied to Ms. Russell about what happened to protect their relationship. The Petitioner contended the sex with Ms. Matthews was consensual. The Petitioner sought to introduce evidence that Ms. Matthews and Mr. Russell were living together at the time of the trial in order to show her motive to lie. During trial, Ms. Matthews testified she was living with her mother. The trial court granted to prosecutor’s motion to not allow the evidence. Mr. Harris was acquitted on all charges and t he Petitioner was convicted of forcible sodomy. The Petitioner claimed that the trial court’s failure to allow him to impeach Ms. Matthew’s testimony deprived him of his Sixth Amendment constitutional right to confront the witness. The appellate court upheld the conviction finding that the probative value of the evidence was outweighed by the possibility of prejudice against Ms. Matthews.
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