The Michigan Supreme Court will consider whether, in a criminal sexual conduct case, evidence of a victim’s pregnancy, lack of prior sexual activity, and abortion is barred by the rape-shield statute as “[e]vidence of specific instances of the victim’s sexual conduct, opinion evidence of the victim’s sexual conduct, [or] reputation evidence of the victim’s sexual conduct...” MCL 750.520j(1). The parties in People v. Sharpe, Case Nos. 155747-8, also have been asked to address whether, if the evidence is covered by the rape-shield statute, it is nonetheless admissible under one of the statute’s exceptions. Further, if the evidence is not barred by the rape-shield statute, the parties have been asked to address whether the evidence is admissible under MRE 402 and MRE 403. The Court of Appeals previously held that the evidence is not necessarily barred by MRE 404(a) or Michigan’s rape-shield statute. Our blog post discussing the Court of Appeal’s opinion can be found here.
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