State v. Gonyaw

The defendant appeals his conviction of sexual assault. 13 V.S.A. § 3252(1)(A). The judgment is reversed and the matter remanded for a new trial.

The alleged assault occurred on August 3, 1983 at the complainant’s home. The defendant and complainant had had a relationship which had commenced approximately six years earlier. They had lived together and were sexually intimate during some of this period.

Prior to trial the defendant filed a notice of intent to offer evidence of the complainant’s prior sexual conduct with the defendant pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 3255(b), the rape shield law, which…