United States v. Willis

Facts

K.M. lived with her cousin, Jamee Black, and Ms. Black's boyfriend, Wesley Bear. K.M. was babysitting the couple's two children while Mr. Bear and Ms. Black were working. Mr. Bear's sister, Christi Bear, came to the home with her boyfriend, D. Ms. Bear and Mr. Willis left their son with K.M. while D drove Ms. Bear to work. When D returned, instead of picking up his son and leaving, he began making sexual advances toward K.M. K.M. rejected D. D then took her into the bathroom and pulled down her shorts and underwear, removed his pants, pressed his body against hers, and tried to make her 'touch his private area.' K.M. continued to say no. D lifted her onto the sink and tried to penetrate her. While continuing to resist, K.M. slid off the sink and tried to pull up her shorts, but D pushed her. K.M. stumbled and caught herself on the toilet, and D penetrated her from behind. K.M. stopped resisting at this point because she was scared and 'didn't know what to do.' D left the house but later returned because K.M was crying.  K.M. said that D 'asked if it felt like he forced [her],' and she said yes. Mr. Bear checked on K.M. and found K.M. crying and asked what was wrong. Mr. Bear's three-year-old daughter said, 'Daddy, I saw Uncle Ivan kissing [K.M.] in the bathroom.' K.M. began crying harder and explained that D had forced her into the bathroom and forced himself on her. D was arrested. The jury found D guilty and he appealed. D contends that the district court erred in excluding evidence that K.M. had sex with her boyfriend at the Bear/Black residence before her encounter with D. D moved to introduce the report from K.M.'s sexual-assault examination, showed that semen in K.M.'s underwear matched DNA samples from both D and K.M.'s boyfriend. D claims this evidence established K.M.'s motive to lie: she did not want her boyfriend nor Mr. Bear and Ms. Black to know she had sex with D.

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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