The privacy rights of alleged rape victims were strengthened Thursday with the passage of a California law inspired by the Kobe Bryant case and boosted by a high-profile Orange County gang-rape trial.
The law requires that defense lawyers' motions to disclose an alleged victim's sexual history -- which in themselves reveal that background -- be kept confidential unless ruled admissible by a judge.
"Unscrupulous defense attorneys try to deny justice to victims by putting their sexual history out on display when it's not relevant to the case," Assemblyman Russ Bogh (R-Cherry Valley), who sponsored the bill, said in a telephone interview. "The law still gives a defendant the right to question his accuser. It's just done in private."
The state Senate and the Assembly unanimously approved the legislation before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it Wednesday. It was added to the lawbooks Thursday, but will not take effect until Jan. 1.
"This legislation strengthens California's rape shield law by protecting a victim's privacy without abridging a defendant's right to present their case," said Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for the governor.
Criminal defense attorneys also praised the new law, but said their clients should be afforded more privacy as well to protect the rights of the falsely accused.
Former state legislator Rod Pacheco, now a prosecutor in Riverside County, asked Bogh to sponsor the bill after observing the Bryant case, in which the Laker star is accused of raping a woman at a Colorado resort last year.
Bryant's attorneys contend that the accuser had multiple sex partners in the days surrounding the encounter, which Bryant said was consensual. They want to introduce that information in court, contending that one of those men may have caused the injuries found during the woman's rape exam. Also, they want to explore what they call the woman's "attention-seeking behavior," which they say is revealed through her false rape accusation, promiscuous behavior and multiple suicide attempts.
Closing arguments on the motion are due next week.
In Orange County, jurors are deliberating the case in which three young men are accused of raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl. In a motion filed before the trial, the defense attorneys asked the judge if they could probe areas of the girl's past, including her parents' attempt to get her medical and psychiatric help, and previous sexual encounters.
