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Are Rape Shield Laws Working?

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photoKobe's lawyers are bringing ex-boyfriends and ex-roommates in to testify in a private, pre-trial hearing. If the judge decides what they say about her sexual past is relevant, they'll get to repeat it in front of a jury. Critics argue this is the sort of invasive questioning that rape-shield laws were meant to stop. We examine the statutes' intended and unintended consequences.

Guests:

Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor of sex crimes, adjunct professor at New England School of Law

Larry Pozner, Denver defense attorney, former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Karen Brouhard, co-director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

This program aired on March 25, 2004.

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