Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 9/29/2005

Commonwealth v. King

Citations

445 Mass. 217
834 N.E.2d 1175
40 A.L.R. 6th 609
2005 Mass. LEXIS 541

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

holding that the fresh complaint doctrine should now be seen as a way to mitigate juror bias because “jurors continue to be skeptical of allegations of rape”
observing that corroborative evidence is less likely to be necessary in cases where victims have made spontaneous complaints
noting that first complaint testimony is not used to prove truth of allegations, but rather to \assist the jury in determining whether to credit the complainant's testimony about the alleged sexual assault\
applying modification of fresh complaint doctrine prospectively, where modification was exercise of superintendence power and not new constitutional rule
delaying some testimony until \the defendant has damaged the victim's credibility . . . can cause unwarranted prejudice to the Commonwealth\
\long-standing rule that witnesses may not offer their opinions regarding the credibility of another witness\

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Cowin

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

142 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

85 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.