State of Minnesota in Supreme Court

Minnesota Supreme Court
June 24, 2015

http://www.mncourts.gov/opinions/sc/current/OPA120263-062415.pdf

[full text]

Respondent Christopher Thomas Wenthe was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, Minn. Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(l)(i) (2014), for sexually penetrating A.F.—a member of the parish where Wenthe served as a priest—at a single meeting at which A.F. sought spiritual counsel. Appellant State of Minnesota seeks review of three issues: (1) whether the district court committed plain error affecting Wenthe’s substantial rights by failing to provide a specific-unanimity jury instruction; (2) whether the State was required to prove that Wenthe had knowledge that A.F. sought or received religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort at a meeting that also involved sexual penetration; and (3) whether the district court abused its discretion by denying Wenthe’s motion to admit evidence of A.F.’s sexual history after it admitted the State’s evidence of A.F.’s sexual inexperience. The court of appeals concluded the district court erred with respect to all three issues and that the cumulative effect of the errors necessitates a new trial. We reverse.