State v. Thornton
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of multiple counts of rape, sodomy, and sexual abuse of a twelve-year-old victim. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the district court erred in admitting evidence of Defendant’s past misconduct. Specifically, the court held that the district court erred in failing to perform a “scrupulous examination” of the character evidence introduced by the State. The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the judgment of conviction, holding (1) language in this Court’s prior opinions that speaks of “scrupulous examination” of character evidence under Utah R. Evid. 404(b) is hereby repudiated; (2) the district court properly admitted the character evidence at issue in this case; and (3) the district court properly refused to allow Defendant to present evidence of the victim’s sexual experience under Utah R. Evid. 412 and the Sixth Amendment.
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