SB 1386: Evidence: sexual assault.

Under existing law, in any civil action that contains allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual battery, opinion evidence, reputation evidence, and evidence of specific instances of a plaintiffs sexual conduct with someone other than the alleged perpetrator, is not admissible by the defendant in order to prove consent by the plaintiff or the absence of injury to the plaintiff.

This bill would also make the specified types of evidence inadmissible in such civil actions when being used to attack the credibility of the plaintiffs testimony on consent or absence of injury.

Under existing law, in any sexual battery civil action involving a minor and an adult who is in a position of authority, as specified, evidence of the plaintiff minors sexual conduct with the defendant adult is not admissible to prove consent by the plaintiff or the absence of injury to the plaintiff. Existing law authorizes evidence of the minor plaintiffs sexual conduct to be introduced only to attack the credibility of the plaintiff or to prove something other than consent by the plaintiff if, upon a hearing of the court out of the presence of the jury, the defendant proves that the probative value of that evidence outweighs the prejudice to the plaintiff, as specified.

This bill would remove the requirement, in cases involving a minor and an adult who is in a position of authority, that prior to the introduction of specified types of evidence, a court hold a hearing out of the presence of the jury, where the defendant bears the burden to prove that the probative value of the evidence outweighs the prejudice. The introduction of evidence relating to the sexual conduct of the minor in such cases would be evaluated under procedures already in place under existing law.