State v. Smith

LAWRENCE E. MOONEY, Presiding Judge.

The defendant appeals from the judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of forcible rape and attempted victim tampering. Because the trial court erred in excluding corroborating evidence of a videotape that elucidated the immediate surrounding circumstances of the alleged crimes, the judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial.

We recount the State’s version of events. In January 2002, the victim and Jonathan Young began dating. On the evening of January 31, 2002, Young drove the victim to the defendant’s house where the defendant…