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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
State v. Johnson
Citation:
123 N.M. 640, 944 P.2d 869.Facts
The defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault and criminal penetration, and one count of false imprisonment. The charges stemmed from two separate incidents. The State contended that the Defendant enticed T.A. to enter his car by indicating that he was a law enforcement officer and needed to speak to her, and on a different occasion, he offered T.S. a ride, which she accepted. After each woman entered his car, he drove her to a secluded area where he assaulted and raped her.
The Defendant argued that he approached each woman believing her to be a prostitute, and that during the course of consensual acts that the Defendant paid for, he did things which annoyed, angered and, in some ways, frightened these women. Defense counsel filed a motion in limine asking the court to consider the admissibility of evidence of the prior sexual conduct of the alleged victims and evidence that one alleged victim had worked as a prostitute in the past. The State opposed the motion and filed its own motion in limine seeking to preclude evidence of any sexual conduct by any victim with any person other than the defendant and any reference to any alleged illicit sexual activity performed by any victim in this case. The Court denied the Defendant’s motion and granted the State’s motion.
The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant’s convictions. It argued that the evidence in question should have been admitted for the purpose of showing possible motive to fabricate. The Court of Appeals also stated that the rape shield law does not prevent the public disclosure of the acts of individuals who make themselves available for commercial sex.
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