State v. Parker

Litigation regarding “rape-shield” statutes is not new. The statutes have been challenged on a variety of grounds every since they were first enacted. The issue before us is whether Parker is entitled to introduce evidence of “prior sexual conduct” in contravention of the policy of the “rape-shield” statute in order to prove the victim had a “motive to fabricate” her claim of rape.

I

On appeal Parker claims that the district court erred in excluding the victim’s statement to Ms. Bauder that she [the victim] had left home because she was pregnant. The district court properly excluded this…