Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
State v. McKay
Citations: 776 P.2d 1316; 97 Or. App. 590; 1989 Ore. App. LEXIS 893Docket: 87-5533; CA A49217
Court: Court of Appeals of Oregon; July 26, 1989; Oregon; State Appellate Court
In the case of State of Oregon v. Douglas Glenn McKay, the defendant faces charges of sexual abuse against his stepdaughter, with the state seeking to admit testimony regarding prior sexual contacts that occurred when the victim was between the ages of 10 and 13. The trial court denied the state's motion, citing concerns about undue prejudice and the applicability of OEC 404(3), which generally prohibits the use of evidence of other crimes or acts to prove a person's character. The state argued that such testimony was essential to establish the context of the abuse and to corroborate the victim's credibility, as it would illustrate a pattern of behavior and explain the victim's delayed reporting of the incident. The appellate court found that the trial court erred in its ruling based on OEC 404(3), as previous case law, specifically State v. Zybach, indicated that evidence of uncharged misconduct could be relevant to explain a victim's behavior, such as a delay in reporting. The appellate court noted that the distinctions in timing of the incidents were not significant enough to warrant exclusion. The court emphasized that the trial court needed to apply the proper analytical framework as established in State v. Johns to determine the admissibility of the evidence. Consequently, the appellate court reversed the trial court's decision and remanded the case for reconsideration of the evidence's admissibility in light of the relevant precedents.