Key legal question
Whether refusing to hear witnesses B., A., C. and D. violated the defendant's right to be heard
Extracted holding
The refusal was unconstitutional because the passage of time alone did not justify rejecting potentially relevant testimony; the complaint was upheld on this point.
Extracted reasoning
The court held that the appellate court relied too generally on the six-year time lapse. Since the delay was caused by the late report and sluggish proceedings, the defendant could not be prejudiced by it. The witnesses were part of his close environment and could have shed light on whether the complainant's later sexual contacts occurred before or after the incident.