(Download) "Commonwealth v. Jonathan v. Trowbridge" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Commonwealth v. Jonathan v. Trowbridge
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 21, 1995
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
Supreme Judicial Court, Further appellate review. Indecent Assault and Battery. Child Abuse. Evidence, Exculpatory, Grand jury proceedings, Competency, Sexual conduct, Expert opinion, Credibility of witness, Anatomically correct doll, Hearsay, Fresh complaint. Practice, Criminal, Indictment, Grand jury proceedings, Judicial discretion, Instructions to jury. Grand Jury. Witness, Child, Competency, Expert, Credibility. NOLAN, J. On October 25, 1990, a jury convicted the defendant, Jonathan V. Trowbridge, of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen, but acquitted him on the charge of rape of a child under the age of sixteen. The defendant filed a timely notice of appeal. After hearing oral arguments, the Appeals Court, on its own initiative, requested that the parties brief the issue of the sufficiency of the Judge's instructions on fresh complaint. The Appeals Court reversed the defendant's conviction, and held that the Judge's failure to instruct properly the jury regarding the limited purpose of fresh complaint testimony created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of Justice. Commonwealth v. Trowbridge, 36 Mass. App. Ct. 734, 746, 636 N.E.2d 291 (1994). This court granted the Commonwealth's application for further appellate review. We agree with the Appeals Court and reverse the defendant's conviction.