Appeals court hears challenge to admission of uncharged sexual conduct in Vasquez case

Appellate counsel for defendant Vasquez told a three-judge panel that testimony about an uncharged sexual incident — the victim's statement that "he poked me" — was elicited midtrial and so prejudicial that it requires a new trial.

The argument centers on whether the trial court properly admitted the testimony under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b) and the Rickman exception for child-victim testimony, and whether the court properly excluded a pastor's testimony about a purportedly inconsistent prior statement under Rule 613(b). Appellate counsel said the uncharged "poking" incident is "far more intrusive and egregious" than the charged conduct and that its late introduction "turns his whole trial on its head."

The charges in the indictment referenced at oral argument were: count 1, solicitation of a minor (dates not argued here); and counts 2 and 3, aggravated sexual battery alleged to have occurred between August 2015 and August 2017. Counsel…