State v. Kindall

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court reviews the State’s interlocutory appeal from an order permitting the defendant to introduce evidence concerning the alleged victim’s prior allegation of sexual conduct involving another person. The court holds that the circuit court abused its discretion under Arkansas’s rape-shield statute because the evidence was collateral, invited a trial within a trial, and had slight probative value substantially outweighed by its prejudicial and inflammatory nature. The court reverses and remands for trial.

Holdings

1. The rape-shield statute generally precludes the defendant from introducing evidence of a victim's prior allegation of sexual conduct when the victim asserts that the allegation is true, including when the evidence is offered to attack the victim's credibility.
2. The circuit court abused its discretion by finding admissible evidence concerning K.J.'s prior allegation because the evidence's probative value was slight and substantially outweighed by its prejudicial and inflammatory nature.
3. The circuit court's order improperly authorized impeachment of K.J. on a collateral matter through extrinsic evidence concerning the prior allegation and D.R.'s denial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court abused its discretion by admitting evidence concerning the alleged victim's prior allegation of sexual conduct with another person under Arkansas's rape-shield statute.
2. Whether evidence of the alleged victim's prior inconsistent statement, the failure of the victim and her family to attend the other person's juvenile-court hearing, the dismissal of that case, and the other person's denial was relevant and sufficiently probative to overcome the evidence's prejudicial and inflammatory effect.
3. Whether the circuit court improperly permitted impeachment of the alleged victim on a collateral matter through extrinsic evidence.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded