Redmond v. Kingston

240 F.3d 590 (7th Cir. 2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Redmond (D) was a counselor at a drug and alcohol center for minors. Heather was a 15-year-old-resident. D was charged with trading cocaine for sex. The principal evidence was Heather’s testimony and that of another resident, Michelle, who merely repeated what Heather had told her. There was also evidence that Heather tested positive for cocaine. Eleven months before the alleged offense, she told her mother that she had been forcibly raped and she offered her torn clothes as evidence. She repeated the details to a nurse and police officer but later admitted to making up the story in order to get her mother’s attention. Her new story was that she had sex with the man she has accused of forcible rape but that it was with consent. This man was never found. At his trial, D offered 30 police reports of the investigation that she had been forcibly raped, that the charges were false, and that the district attorney has instituted contempt charges against her. D wanted to bring out her lie on cross-examination to show that she had motive to lie about sexual assault to get attention. The trial judge refused and the court of appeals affirmed; the state’s rape shield law makes an exception for false charges, but the false charge did not have sufficient probative value to outweigh the inflammatory and prejudicial effect and thus under 971.31(11) it was not admissible. The court also ruled that the false charge was cumulative evidence that she had begun cocaine use at 12, had stolen and danced to obtain money for cocaine, had run away in the past, skipped school and told lies. The court also thought the evidence of the false charge might mislead the jury.