Commonwealth v. Johnson

OPINION OF THE COURT

CAPPY, Justice: *

The question presented to the Court is whether the Rape Shield Law 1 bars admission of evidence that a rape victim had previously been a victim in another nonconsensual sexual assault. Although we find that the Rape Shield law does not prohibit the admission of evidence regarding a prior sexual assault suffered by the victim, we further find, for the reasons that follow, that the evidence in this case was inadmissible on other grounds.

The testimony in the instant case revealed the following essential facts. The victim, Nicole S., was ten years of age at…