The People of the State of Colorado v. Donald Louis Gerle.

Summary

The court reversed the court of appeals and held that the trial court properly excluded text messages describing prior consensual sexual BDSM activity because they were irrelevant to the charged nonsexual confinement and assaults. The prior messages did not make it more probable that the victim consented to confinement or less probable that the defendant intended to confine and assault her, given the absence of evidence connecting the prior sexual encounter to the charged conduct. The court also left undisturbed the conclusion that the rape shield statute did not apply, because the charged offenses were not sexual offenses and no sexual assault was alleged.