Chlamydia or other VD's as Exculpatory Evidence?

 

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If 2 warrants were issued 1) DNA Testing 2) Testing for STD and Certain Diseases, DNA was submitted, not STD is it exculpatory?

A person was charged with Sexual Assault of a Child (age 14). The accuser/mother of the accuser said that he gave her Chlamydia. Tests were done. He was the father and was sentenced to 30 yrs. 20 in 10 out. During sentencing the Court indicated this child has Chlamydia and could be sterile, several times it was referenced. 16 years later, the victim in the case came forward with an affidavit stating she never had an STD as she has five children and the incident was not violent, no drugs or alcohol involved, and that is was consensual. One year after the incident two warrants were issued for 1) DNA Testing and 2) Testing for STD and Certain Diseases. Only the DNA Testing was submitted by the State. No one questioned the STD accusation, was never proven, The inmate is seeking re sentencing. Is the absence of the STD testing considered exculpatory evidence? He believes the Court increased his sentence because of the severity as stated in the PSI and Sentencing. He has never denied the incident, however always denied how it happened and has never had an STD in his life. An affidavit was submitted to the court his partner he has three children with ever contracted any STD.

 

Answer by Jay K. Nixon, Criminal Defense Attorney in Kenosha & Janesville, WI, Avvo Rating: 10,

Yes, the absence of the disease if the victim claimed that she had it could be exculpatory.  Although the state has a duty to produce exculpatory evidence which comes into its possession during an investigation, whether or the government has a duty to first look for it is a bit more vague since that would normally be the job of the defense private investigator.  Either way, this question is too detailed for a forum like this, where we are only seeing the "tip of the iceberg." You should instead retain a lawyer to go over the case-file and provide a more educated guess, and a written legal opinion. Generally speaking, Prosecutors' decisions on the issuance of legal process like search warrants is not evidence, since it involves the behavior of lawyers rather than that of the subjects of the investigation. But it is possible to set up the testing through private investigation, rather than depending upon the government to do it. Action or inaction by public officials, however, can have many explanations, none of which relate to what actually once happened between the victims and the suspects.