Oliva v. Commonwealth

In this appeal from a conviction for forcible rape, we hold that the trial Judge erred by refusing to admit evidence which tended to show that another person committed the rape. The trial Judges rulings unduly restricted the defendants ability to present relevant and material evidence in his own defense. Because Oliva proffered evidence that directly pointed to another person as the rapist, and offered other circumstantial evidence that tended to corroborate his more direct proof, we cannot say that the excluded evidence would not have raised a reasonable doubt about the victims identification of the defendant as her assailant. Consequently, the error was not harmless. Therefore, we reverse the conviction and remand the case for retrial.