Turner v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the defendant's testimony regarding the 16-year-old rape victim's statements to him that she had sex in the past with her boyfriend and with older men, as the Rape Shield Statute prohibited them.

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A jury found Michael Lynn Turner guilty of rape. Following the denial of his amended motion for new trial, Turner appeals. He argues that he should have been allowed to testify about statements made to him by the victim and to cross-examine a witness concerning statements the witness posted about the victim on a social media website. For the following reasons, we affirm. Construed in favor of the verdict, the evidence revealed that Turner lived with M. T., his 16-year-old daughter. M. T. invited the victim, who was also 16 years old, and another teenage girl to spend the night at her home. The victim’s mother drove her to Turner’s home, and when she arrived, M. T. and another girl were at the home. At some point, Turner arrived home with alcohol in his car and asked the three girls to retrieve it. Turner made margaritas for the girls and gave them shots of vodka. The victim testified that Turner also gave them a marijuana cigarette. She stated that she smoked it four times. Later in the evening, the victim “started to feel sick” and stumbled to M. T.’s bathroom, where she vomited on the bathroom floor. After she vomited again in the hallway because she could not walk or crawl, Turner assisted her back into M. T.’s bathroom. M. T., her friend, and Turner all laughed as the victim continued to vomit.

The next thing the victim remembered was waking up naked and face-down on the floor in Turner’s bathroom. She stated that she felt “scared and sick, confused.” Turner, sitting in the bathroom next to the victim, asked her “Would you like me to help you lay down It might make you feel better.” The victim, unable to talk, attempted to stand up and walk back to M. T.’s room, but she lost consciousness.

Turner v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the defendant's testimony regarding the 16-year-old rape victim's statements to him that she had sex in the past with her boyfriend and with older men, as the Rape Shield Statute prohibited them.

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