Coy v. Iowa
United States Supreme Court
487 U.S. 1012, 108 S. Ct. 2798 (1988)
- Written by Deanna Curl, JD
Facts
In 1985, a man entered the backyard tent two 13-year-old girls were camping in and sexually assaulted them. During the assault, the assailant was wearing a stocking on his head, and the girls could not later describe his face. The next-door neighbor, Mr. Coy (defendant), was subsequently arrested for the crime and charged with two counts of lascivious acts with a child. At trial, the prosecution moved to allow the victims to testify by either closed-circuit television or behind a screen, pursuant to a new state law that allowed these procedures, so that the victims would feel less uneasy during testimony. The trial court approved the use of a screen during the victims’ testimony. The screen enabled Coy to perceive the victims but blocked the victims from seeing Coy at all. The court overruled Coy’s objection to the use of the screen at trial but instructed the jury that they were not to draw an inference of guilt from the use of the screen. Coy was ultimately convicted of the crimes, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the case.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Scalia, J.)
Concurrence (O’Connor, J.)
Dissent (Blackmun, J.)
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