State v. Vanderham

Defendant seeks reversal of his convictions for two counts of rape in the first degree, ORS 163.375, and one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object. ORS 163.411. He argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence that he had possessed a pornographic magazine approximately two years before the crimes were committed. The error requires reversal and a new trial.

The crimes charged to defendant are of a kind considered particularly offensive and likely to inflame the passions of a jury. Defendant was accused of raping his wife’s granddaughter, age 12, on two occasions during a…