Also known as: FRE 412 · Fed. R. Evid. 412 · Federal Rule of Evidence 412 · rape shield rule · Rule of Evidence 412
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A rule of evidence that generally prohibits the admission of evidence offered to prove that an alleged victim engaged in other sexual behavior or to prove the victim's sexual predisposition in any civil or criminal proceeding involving alleged sexual misconduct. The prohibition applies unless a listed exception is satisfied. In criminal cases the exceptions include specific instances offered to prove that someone other than the defendant was the source of semen, injury, or other physical evidence, specific instances of sexual behavior with the defendant offered to prove consent, and evidence whose exclusion would violate the defendant's constitutional rights. In civil cases the evidence may be admitted only if its probative value substantially outweighs the danger of harm to any victim and of unfair prejudice to any party.
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Rachel Ramirez accuses her supervisor Ravi Reddy of sexual assault after a late-night meeting at their office. Reddy seeks to introduce testimony that Ramirez had consensual sexual encounters with two other coworkers on prior business trips to suggest she consented on this occasion. The court excludes the evidence because it concerns sexual behavior with persons other than the defendant and is offered only to imply predisposition or consent.
Regina Robinson testifies that the defendant sexually assaulted her. The defendant offers evidence that Robinson made a prior false accusation of rape against another man to impeach her credibility. The court holds that Rule 412 does not bar the evidence because prior false accusations are not evidence of the victim's past sexual behavior and the defendant's confrontation rights require its admission.
The rule permits specific instances of the victim's sexual behavior with the accused when offered to prove consent on the charged occasion. The evidence must still satisfy the procedural requirements of notice and an in camera hearing.
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No. The rule expressly excepts evidence of specific instances of the victim's sexual behavior when offered to prove that someone other than the defendant was the source of semen, injury, or other physical evidence.
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In civil cases the evidence is admissible only if its probative value substantially outweighs the danger of harm to any victim and of unfair prejudice to any party. Courts apply this heightened balancing test rather than the criminal-case exceptions.
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Courts have held that prior false accusations are not evidence of the victim's past sexual behavior and therefore fall outside the rule's prohibition when offered for impeachment or to protect confrontation rights.
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