State v. Marks, 2011 UT App 262

Billy J. Marks was convicted of one count of sodomy upon a child, a first-degree felony, in Utah.
Grandson, a mentally challenged youth in special education, was the victim; he was fourteen at the time of trial and younger during the alleged acts.
Grandson was under guardianship of his Grandmother; Marks was his guardian and previously married to Grandmother; they divorced in 2001.
Allegations arose from incidents in 2005–2006, including oral sodomy by Marks and prior related conduct by Grandson (pornography possession and an incident with his sister) brought to light by Grandmother.
Marks sought to admit Rule 412 evidence (Grandson’s prior sexual behavior and pornography) to attack credibility and show motive or knowledge; the court denied the motion.
Trial featured substantial inconsistencies in Grandson’s accounts across CJC interview, preliminary hearing, and trial; defense argued insufficiency of evidence and attacked credibility.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
whether Rule 412 exclusion violated confrontation rights	State contends exclusion is proper under 412 with countervailing safety concerns	Marks argues exclusion violated his Sixth Amendment rights by limiting cross-examination	No violation; exclusion upheld under Rule 412 balancing
whether evidence was legally sufficient to sustain conviction	State asserts substantial evidence supports verdict beyond reasonable doubt	Marks argues inconsistencies render the evidence insufficient	Evidence sufficient; conviction affirmed
whether exclusion impacted Marks's ability to present a complete defense	State contends alternative avenues to attack credibility were provided	Marks asserts exclusion hindered credibility challenges and alternative sources of knowledge	Exclusion not arbitrary; defense had adequate cross-examination avenues

State v. Tarrats, 2005 UT 50 (Utah) (rape shield balancing; rule 412 purposes)
State v. Moton, 749 P.2d 639 (Utah 1988) (sexual innocence inference and cross-examination limits)
Butterfield v. Cook, 817 P.2d 333 (Utah Ct. App. 1991) (closing argument and sexual knowledge evidence relevance)
State v. Boyd, 2001 UT 30 (Utah) (rape shield evidence; rule 403 balancing)
Quinonez-Gaiton, 2002 UT App 273 (Utah) (motive to fabricate; cross-examination limitations)
State v. Clark, 2009 UT App 252 (Utah) (confrontation rights and Rule 412)
State v. Martin (Martin II), 2002 UT 34 (Utah) (evidence of sexual knowledge; Rule 404/412 interplay)
State v. Lenkart, 2011 UT 27 (Utah) (credibility and post-trial developments)
State v. Virgin, 2006 UT 29 (Utah) (child testimony consistency and reliability considerations)
State v. Robbins, 2009 UT 23 (Utah) (inherently improbable testimony standard for sufficiency)