WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider New Hampshire’s appeal in a sexual assault case involving two Manchester, N.H., sisters and a Bangor, Maine, man.

The justices had been asked to use the case to clarify when defendants must be allowed to confront their accusers, in this case, girls who were 8- and 12-years-old.

In February, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the 1997 conviction of Delvin White of Bangor, Maine, who had been found guilty of sexually assaulting the sisters, saying he should have been allowed to question the girls about alleged false allegations of previous assaults.

The appeals court ruled that the refusal violated White’s constitutional rights and sent the case back to New Hampshire.

The appeals court ruled that White, 60, was denied the right to offer the evidence, even though the state supreme court, which upheld the convictions, found the prior accusations showed a “reasonable probability of falsity.”