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Cantu v. State

The trial court was authorized to evaluate the relevance of any evidence of the victim's past and exclude it on that basis, even if the rape shield statute-O.C.G.A. § 24-2-3-did not require exclusion

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Following a jury trial, Roy Martinez Cantu appeals his conviction of one count of child molestation,1 contending that the trial court erred by 1 excluding evidence on the basis of the rape shield statute, 2 failing to properly respond to communications from the jury, 3 admitting testimony that improperly bolstered the victim’s credibility, and 4 denying him due process by unduly restricting his examination of witnesses. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Construed in favor of the verdict,2 the evidence shows that V. M. lived with her grandparents because her father had abandoned her, and her mother abused drugs and neglected her. Starting sometime after V. M. was in the third grade and before she was 13 years old, Cantu, V. M.’s grandfather, repeatedly raped her, performed oral sex on her, forced her to perform oral sex on him, and fondled her breasts and vagina. V. M. ultimately told her school principal about the abuse, which was then reported to a social worker. V. M. was examined by a emergency room nurse trained in sexual abuse examinations, and the nurse’s findings were consistent with chronic sexual abuse.

Cantu was charged with one count of child molestation,3 and, following a jury trial, he was convicted and sentenced to serve twenty years in prison. Cantu now appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial.

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