Commonwealth v. Lamontagne

After a two-day trial, a jury found the defendant guilty of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen.1 The victim, Esther,2 was three years old at the time of the abuse and four at the time of trial. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial judge abused his discretion by allowing Esther to testify without first assessing her competency as a witness, that fresh complaint testimony was beyond the scope of the child’s testimony and was excessively cumulative, that his trial attorney provided him with ineffective assistance in failing to…