* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmembers Clarke and Mosby
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Request for State Action - Admission of Prior Assault Evidence in Sexual Assault Prosecutions
FOR the purpose of calling for the State of Maryland to adopt a new evidentiary standard in sexual assault cases that would allow for the introduction of relevant prior conduct evidence against perpetrators, just as current law allows for the introduction of some prior conduct evidence against victims.
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Recitals
Sexual assault cases involve some of our society’s most heinous crimes, and are often among the most difficult to successfully prosecute. This is especially true when a case turns on a question of whether an accuser’s version of what happened is more creditable than the story told by the accused.
The special features of sexual assault cases, where the accused and accuser may be the only witnesses and physical evidence is often not conclusive as to whether or not the contact was consensual, require a different balancing of the factors affecting the admissibility of evidence that could bear on the all-important credibility question than is called for in a simple assault case. Recognizing this, Maryland criminal law has special evidentiary rules relating to admissibility of sexual conduct evidence against the alleged victim of a sexual assault that take these special circumstances into a...
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