Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jul 27, 2021
State of Missouri, Respondent, vs. Benjamin Stiff, Appellant.
Benjamin Stiff was convicted of first-degree statutory sodomy and sentenced to 20 years in prison. On appeal, Stiff argued the trial court plainly erred by excluding evidence of the victim's prior disclosures of sexual conduct, claiming it violated his constitutional rights to confrontation, fair trial, and due process. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, holding that the excluded evidence fell under the rape shield statute and Stiff failed to preserve his constitutional challenge for review, thus no plain error occurred.