Commonwealth v. Johnson

A jury found the defendant, Douglas Johnson, guilty of assault with intent to commit rape, G. L. c. 265, § 24, and indecent assault and battery on a mentally retarded person, G. L. c. 265, § 13F. On appeal, the defendant argues that he is *536entitled to a new trial because (1) the judge refused to permit any cross-examination of the Commonwealth’s principal witness as to the witness’s possible racial bias, and (2) the judge erroneously permitted the prosecutor to impeach the defendant’s credibility with a prior conviction of a traffic offense on which only a fine was imposed. We transferred the…