JUDICIAL DISCRETION IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES AFTER STATE V PULIZZANO - THE WISCONSIN SUPREME-COURT GIVETH, CAN THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE TAKETH AWAY

In State v. Pulizzano, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the purposes for which defense attorneys may explore the sexual history of an alleged sexual assault victim are not limited to the enumerated exceptions to Wisconsin's rape shield law. The court thus found Wisconsin's rape shield statute unconstitutional as applied to a defendant who sought to establish through cross examination that a seven year-old complainant's sexual knowledge had come from an alternative source. This Note analyzes the court's reasoning in Pulizzano and concludes that although the ruling allows Wisconsin trial court judges greater discretion than the Wisconsin Legislature has seen fit to grant, it comports with thc constitutional requirements that a judge determine when a defendant's rights demand that the evidence be admitted.