California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Randle v. City and County of San Francisco, 186 Cal.App.3d 449, 230 Cal.Rptr. 901 (Cal. App. 1986):
1 The newly discovered evidence consisted of 20 declarations by people familiar with the witness' reputation addressing "(1) Complainant's reputation for and instances of soliciting public sex acts in exchange for money, drugs, and drinks; (2) complainant's accounts of the March 6 incident which contradicted her testimony at trial; and (3) complainant's reputation for dishonesty and theft, including specific instances thereof." (People v. Randle, supra, 130 Cal.App.3d at p. 292, 181 Cal.Rptr. 745.) The excluded evidence was testimony that, on two prior occasions at the bar where the witness met appellant, she had falsely complained of having her purse snatched and having been kidnapped. (Id., at p. 295, 181 Cal.Rptr. 745.) The court concluded that the excluded evidence and evidence discovered between the time of jury verdict and new trial motion required reversal because the case was "peculiarly a credibility case" in which a different result would probably occur on retrial. (Id., at p. 296, 181 Cal.Rptr. 745.)
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