Commonwealth v. Scullin

The defendant was convicted by a Superior Court jury of rape of a child, G. L. c. 265, § 23. On appeal, he alleges that (1) the trial judge improperly admitted evidence of the defendant’s prior bad acts, and (2) he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. On the basis of the defendant’s second argument, we reverse.

We briefly summarize the evidence presented at trial. The *10defendant, the father of the victim, and the victim’s mother were divorced in 1987. During December of that year, the victim, then almost ten years old, visited the defendant in his separate home. The victim…