The defendant appealed against his conviction for rape, raising an issue as to the proper approach to a judgment whether to exclude evidence of sexual behaviour of the complainant relating to a ‘relevant issue in the case’ within the meaning of section 41(2) of the 1999 Act. The appellant argued that the trial judge’s ruling deprived him of a fair trial. It had the effect of curtailing the evidence of the appellant relevant to his defence of honest and reasonable belief in the complainant’s consent to sexual intercourse.
Held: The appeal failed. The evidence had been correctly excluded: ‘we do not consider that the admission of the full content of these conversations would have improved the appellant’s standing in the eyes of the jury or, more particularly, that it was necessary to admit the evidence to avoid an unsafe conclusion by the jury. The fact that Lee told the appellant he had had sexual intercourse with the complainant on a previous occasion cannot have amounted to any justification for a belief held by the appellant that she would consent to sexual intercourse with him when she had explicitly rejected him. Furthermore, the line of reasoning required was exactly that prohibited by section 41(4): that a woman who consents to intercourse with one comparative stranger will, a week later, and in different circumstances, consent to have intercourse with another.
Pitchford LJ, Coulson, Spencer JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 691
Bailii
Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 41
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v A (Complainant’s Sexual History) (No 2) HL 17-May-2001
The fact of previous consensual sex between complainant and defendant could be relevant in a trial of rape, and a refusal to allow such evidence could amount to a denial of a fair trial to a defendant. Accordingly, where the evidence was so relevant . .
Cited – Bahador, Regina v CACD 15-Feb-2005
The appellant was charged with pre-2003 Act sexual offences. He wished to give evidence that he honestly believed the complainant was consenting to sexual activity with him because, earlier on the same evening, he had observed her behaving in a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Evidence
Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.523633