Utah's rape-shield law, prohibiting divulgence of a victim's sexual history, should seldom be circumvented. Doing so may have a chilling effect on reporting assaults and is usually irrelevant to the crime being considered.
Advocates for the law and for the people it protects are, understandably, concerned about a 3rd District Court judge's decision to grant an exception to the law in the trial of a West Jordan police officer.But there may be rare occasions when divulgence is directly relevant to a case. Judge Ronald Nehring has deemed this one of those instances. His ruling is unsettling but, on the surface at this stage of the trial, seems justified.
In this case, the defendant and the victim had a previous consensual relationship, according to testimony given in an open hearing. If true, that does not mean he could not be guilty of the crime. Most sexual assaults are perpetrated by acquaintances, even spouses, who have had varying degrees of personal involvement with their victims. But such disclosure may be important in establishing context and a timeline essential to reaching an accurate verdict.
Few things are worse than a rape victim being treated with insensitivity by an unfeeling system, and that should never happen. Utah County has a comprehensive, cooperative support program that provides a safe and secure environment from the moment of reporting a crime through trial. Other jurisdictions should provide similar compassionate treatment.
Women who report sexual assault are telling the truth virtually all of the time, according to police statistics. Tragically, those reports represent only a small percentage of actual assaults, as most go unreported due to the trauma and stigma associated with a horrible crime.
Yet there are those few, very few, instances where false charges of sexual assault are leveled against either a man or woman by a vengeful associate following a consensual relationship. Those situations are tragic and perverse in their own right, often destroying reputations and devastating lives.
Proper medical technology, as used to gather evidence in Utah County sexual-assault investigations, is critical in determining the difference. But along with that, disclosure of a previous relationship may have relevance when a potential life prison sentence hinges on a fair outcome.
If guilty, no punishment for an assailant is too severe. But if innocent, unfounded charges also may scar for life.
Exceptions to the rape-shield law should never be granted casually. They should not become the norm. But occasionally they have a place, which is why the law allows them.