State v. Pelletier
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The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction of sexual intercourse without consent (SIWC), a felony, holding that the district court abused its discretion in allowing the State to cross-examine Defendant regarding a prior SIWC allegation as rebuttal evidence and in precluding Defendant from impeaching the testimony of the State's complaining witness with evidence of marijuana use prior to reporting the alleged offense.
On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the district court abused its discretion in allowing the State to cross-examine him regarding an unsubstantiated 2003 SIWC allegation for the purpose of rebutting his self-serving good character testimony and erroneously precluded him from impeaching the testimony of the State's complaining witness with evidence of marijuana use prior to reporting the alleged offense. The Supreme Court agreed and remanded the case for a new trial, holding that, under the circumstances of this case, the district court erred as to both issues and that the errors were prejudicial.
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