State v. Cuni, 159 N.J. 584 (1999)

In State v. Cuni, 159 N.J. 584 (1999), the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed the question of how the State’s rape-shield law applies when the central issue is the victim’s capacity to give consent, rather than mere prior sexual history. A delivery worker was convicted of sexual assault against a woman with a mental disability. At trial he sought to introduce evidence of her past sexual experiences, intending to show that she had the capacity to consent despite her condition. The trial court barred the evidence under § 2C:14-7 (the rape-shield statute). On appeal, the Court held that the statute’s exclusion of such evidence was lawful. The Court stressed that in offenses under § 2C:14-2(c)(2), capacity to consent hinges on the victim’s mental state at the time of the act. The Court affirmed the conviction, explaining that the proffered prior sexual conduct did not meaningfully bear on the victim’s contemporaneous capacity and that admission would risk undue prejudice without sufficient probative value.

Topics

• Sexual violence and rape

Geographical location

• North America
• United States
• New Jersey

Keywords

• consent
• incapacity
• rape shield law
• victim rights
• victim's sexual history

Year

• 1999

External URL

• State v. Cuni, 159 N.J. 584 (1999)

Court

• New Jersey Supreme Court

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• New Jersey