State v. Eder

Three years after a jury convicted Leonardo Eder of second degree child rape, his stepdaughter recanted the testimony that supported the conviction. Eder appeals from the denial of his personal restraint petition in which he sought a new trial. We hold that recantation testimony, a form of newly discovered evidence, warrants a new trial only if it is material; it is material only if it is true; and therefore the trial court did not err in making a threshold determination as to its credibility.

I

At his trial in 1989, Eder’s stepdaughter Christine testified that he raped her one afternoon when…