Bill Text: DE SB314 | 2025-2026 | 153rd General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 11 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Criminal Procedure, Witnesses And Evidence.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-17 - Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits [SB314 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2025-SB314-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Sen. Poore & Rep. Romer |
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Sen. Hoffner; Reps. Berry, Gorman, Griffith, Heffernan, Morrison |
DELAWARE STATE SENATE
153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 314
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Chapter 35, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 3508. Rape — Sufficiency of evidence; proceedings in camera.
(a) In any prosecution for the crime of any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact; an attempt to commit any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, if such attempt conforms to § 531 of this title; solicitation for the crime of any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, if such offense conforms to § 502 of this title; or conspiracy to commit any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, if such offense conforms to § 512 of this title, if evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness the following procedure shall be followed:
(1) The defendant shall make a written motion to the court and prosecutor stating that the defense has an offer of proof concerning the relevancy of evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness which the defendant proposes to present, and the relevancy of such evidence in attacking the credibility of the complaining witness.
(2) The written motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit in which the offer of proof shall be stated.
(3) If the court finds that the offer of proof is sufficient, the court shall order a hearing out of the presence of the jury, if any, and at such hearing allow the questioning of the complaining witness regarding the offer of proof made by the defendant.
(4) At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds that evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant regarding the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is relevant, and is not inadmissible, the court may issue an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant, and the nature of the questions to be permitted. The defendant may then offer evidence pursuant to the order of the court.
(b) In any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration, or unlawful sexual contact, if any evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion is offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness the following procedure shall be followed:
(1) The defendant must provide reasonable notice of any such evidence that the defendant intends to offer at trial, so that the prosecution has a fair opportunity to meet it.
(2) Such evidence may only be admitted upon motion of the defendant, which shall be heard outside the presence of the jury, and shall state both an offer of proof concerning the nature of evidence of the false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct made by the complaining witness which the defendant proposes to present, and the relevancy of such evidence in attacking the credibility or reliability of the complaining witness.
(3) If the offer of proof does not contain some credible evidence tending to show a reasonable probability that the complaining witness made a materially false allegation of unlawful sexual conduct while either knowing of its falsity or under circumstances that are reasonably likely to affect the reliability of the complaining witness in the present case, the motion shall be denied without examination of the complaining witness outside the presence of the jury. Evidence that shows only a non-prosecution of a prior allegation does not, on its own, suffice to prove the falsity of the prior allegation.
(4) If the offer of proof does contain some credible evidence tending to show a reasonable probability that the complaining witness made a materially false allegation of unlawful sexual conduct while either knowing of its falsity or under circumstances that are reasonably likely to affect the reliability of the complaining witness in the present case, but the offered evidence is not clear and convincing on its face, the court may allow the questioning of the complaining witness, outside the presence of the jury, regarding the offer of proof made by the defendant in order to carefully balance its relevance and probative value against any inflammatory or prejudicial nature of the evidence.
(5) If the offer of proof demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the complaining witness has made a false allegation of sexual conduct that may be relevant to the assessment of the complaining witness’s credibility or reliability, the evidence shall be admitted, subject to all other relevant statutes and rules, without requiring examination of the complaining witness outside the presence of the jury.
(6) Extrinsic evidence of a complaining witness’s prior false accusation is admissible if:
a. The complaining witness does not testify in the trial or testifies and denies having made the prior accusation or denies its falsehood.
b. The evidence is of such a clear and convincing nature as to avoid undue confusion of the issues.
(7) At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds that evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant regarding a prior false allegation of unlawful sexual conduct made by the complaining witness is relevant, and is not inadmissible, the court may issue an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant. The defendant may then offer evidence pursuant to the order of the court. If extrinsic evidence has been proffered by the defendant, a ruling on the admissibility of extrinsic evidence under subsection (b)(6) of this section shall be made at such time as the circumstances of subsection (b)(6)(i) of this section provide a factual basis for the defendant to request its admission.
(c) As used in this section, “complaining witness” shall mean the alleged victim of any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, any degree of attempted rape, attempted unlawful sexual intercourse, attempted unlawful sexual penetration or attempted unlawful sexual contact, conspiracy or assault.
§ 3509. Rape — Admissibility of certain evidence.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code to the contrary, and except as provided in this section, in any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, any opinion evidence, reputation evidence and evidence of specific instances of the complaining witness’ sexual conduct, or any of such evidence, is not admissible by the defendant in order to prove consent by the complaining witness.
(b) This section, however, shall not be applicable to evidence of the complaining witness’ sexual conduct with the defendant.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code to the contrary, and except as provided in this section and in Delaware’s Rules of Evidence, in any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration, or unlawful sexual contact, any evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion is inadmissible unless it complies with the procedure set forth in § 3508(b) of this title, is relevant and is material to a fact in issue in the case, and the inflammatory or prejudicial nature of the evidence does not outweigh the probative value of the evidence.
(d) If the prosecutor introduces evidence, including testimony of a witness, or the complaining witness as a witness gives testimony, and such evidence or testimony relates to the complaining witness’ sexual conduct, the defendant may cross-examine the witness who gives such testimony and offer relevant evidence limited specifically to the rebuttal of such evidence introduced by the prosecutor or given by the complaining witness.
(d) (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to make inadmissible any evidence offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness as provided in § 3508 of this title.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the prosecutor’s responsibility to disclose exculpatory information to the defendant when it pertains to evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion.
(e) (g) As used in this section, “complaining witness” shall mean the alleged victim of the crime charged, the prosecution of which is subject to this section.
SYNOPSIS
Like the original bill, Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 314 modernizes the Rape Shield provisions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code, §§ 3508 and 3509 and provides that in any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, any evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion is inadmissible unless it complies with the procedure set forth in § 3508 of Title 11, is relevant and is material to a fact in issue in the case, and the inflammatory or prejudicial nature of the evidence does not outweigh the probative value of the evidence.
This Senate Substitute differs from the original in that it establishes a separate procedure under § 3508(b) of Title 11 to address prior false accusations of unlawful sexual conduct by the complaining witness, providing a distinct set of standards for handling the unique issues surrounding this type of evidence.
Author: Senator Poore
