A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-67.7 of the Code of Virginia, relating to admission of evidence; evidentiary hearing; excluded persons.
HB1215 amends Virginia’s rape-shield evidence statute, § 18.2-67.7, which governs when evidence of a complaining witness’s prior sexual conduct may be admitted in prosecutions for sexual offenses and certain related crimes. The bill keeps the general prohibition on reputation or opinion evidence and on most evidence of specific prior sexual conduct, but it clarifies and reorganizes the exceptions under which such evidence may be used, including to explain physical evidence, to show prior sexual conduct with the accused in limited circumstances, or to rebut sexual-conduct evidence introduced by the prosecution.
The bill also strengthens the procedural rules for deciding admissibility. It requires the court to hold an evidentiary hearing before such evidence can be introduced, limits who may attend that hearing, and allows up to two support persons for the complaining witness if the court finds their presence will not interfere with a fair hearing. The judge must admonish support persons not to influence the witness and may remove them if necessary. If new information arises later in the proceeding, the court must revisit admissibility through another evidentiary hearing.
If enacted, HB1215 would amend § 18.2-67.7 of the Code of Virginia and affect the evidentiary rules used in prosecutions for sexual offenses and certain related offenses under the Code. It would not create a new crime or penalty, but would change how courts handle motions and hearings involving a complaining witness’s prior sexual conduct, including the timing of admissibility determinations and the presence of support persons during those hearings. The bill would therefore primarily affect criminal courts, prosecutors, defense counsel, and complaining witnesses in sexual assault and related cases.
Based on the bill text and its procedural posture, the measure appears to be a technical but significant criminal-justice reform focused on balancing defendants’ evidentiary rights with witness privacy and courtroom protection. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, and the bill was left in the House Committee on Courts of Justice, suggesting it did not advance. The structure of the bill indicates an effort to preserve existing rape-shield protections while adding clearer hearing procedures and support for complaining witnesses.
The main point of contention is likely the balance between a defendant’s ability to present relevant evidence and the protection of sexual-assault complainants from invasive inquiry into prior sexual conduct. Defense interests may focus on preserving access to evidence relevant to motive, consent, or alternative explanations for physical evidence, while victim-advocacy interests may support the added limits on who may attend evidentiary hearings and the requirement that support persons not influence testimony. The bill’s allowance for up to two support persons and the court’s discretion to remove them could also be a point of dispute over courtroom fairness and witness protection.