State v. Ebelt

This case presents two questions: (1) whether, in a statutory rape case, a birth certificate is admissible as evidence of the prosecutrix’s age when the prosecutor fails to show that the prosecutrix is the person named in the certificate, and (2) whether the prosecutrix’s testimony as to her own age is admissible when her knowledge is based solely on that birth certificate. We hold that under such circumstances neither the birth certificate nor the testimony is admissible.

The defendant, Robert Ebelt, was charged with felonious sexual assault in violation of RSA 632-A:3 (Supp. 1979) (statutory…