State v. Dighera

SHANGLER, Judge.

The defendant Dighera was convicted of the rape and the sodomy of S.D., a deaf, mute and blind female twenty years of age. The defendant was sentenced to serve fifteen-year concurrent terms on the convictions.

The defendant brought a motion in limine to exclude as incompetent the testimony of prosecutrix S.D. on the grounds that, at the time of trial, she was confined to the Western Missouri Mental Health Center under order of the court and that S.D. was otherwise disabled as a witness by inability to see, hear or speak. The trial court heard evidence on the motion, denied…