A man convicted of raping a 15-year-old Santa Clara girl at an outdoor, back-to-school party in 1999 lost his appeal to the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Tyrone T. Boyd's attorney argued that Washington County 5th District Judge G. Rand Beacham erred when he did not allow the jury to hear some evidence — information about the girl's past sexual conduct — but allowed the introduction of other evidence about Boyd's conduct the night of the incident.
Kenneth Combs contended it was improper for the judge to allow the jury to hear testimony regarding Boyd's nickname — "Freakazoid." Partygoers also testified that Boyd's two friends were introduced as "Psycho" and "Devil Man."
Witnesses said Boyd and his companions were dancing and chanting around a campfire on the night of the rape.
But the state's top court found that evidence "provided background for the rape" of the girl, who was identified in court documents only as S.B.
As to the victim's sexual history, the justices reiterated Rule 412, commonly known as the "rape shield." It says "evidence offered to prove any alleged victim engaged in other sexual behavior" is inadmissible.
But the exception to Rule 412, the court said, is for "evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior by the alleged victim offered to prove that a person other than the accused was the source of the . . . injury, or other physical evidence."
At trial, Combs sought to introduce evidence that S.B. had engaged in sexual intercourse not only with Boyd, but with another young man on the evening of the incident.
Beacham found the evidence did not fit the exception to Rule 412.
On that point, the court disagreed with Beacham but said the judge was not in error, since evidence can be excluded if "its probative value . . . outweigh(s) its prejudicial value." Beacham determined that the evidence created the danger of confusing the issues before the jury.
Combs told the Deseret News he was not surprised by the court's unanimous ruling but expected the justices to spend more time on another one of his arguments:
The official record of Boyd's trial was maintained by a video recording system, instead of a traditional court reporter. Combs contended that first-degree felonies require an official court reporter.
The justices agreed, but said the error did not warrant a reversal of Boyd's conviction.
Fred Vorof, chief of the appeals division for the Attorney General's Office, said he was pleased with the court's ruling. "Mr. Boyd committed a serious crime, and he got a fair trial," he said.
E-MAIL: mtitze@desnews.com