Commonwealth v. Johnson

About nineteen months after he was arrested, the defendant was convicted of kidnapping, rape, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. On appeal he argues that: (1) he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial; and (2) the judge committed error by excluding cross-examination of the complaining witness on a pending charge.

The jury could have found that while on her way home from the Brockton Fair during the early morning hours of July 5,1980, the victim was pulled into a car by two men, subdued by a belt held across her neck, and raped. Two weeks later, she spotted…