Commonwealth v. Salinger

In June of 2006, after a three-day trial, a Superior Court jury convicted the defendant, Richard Salinger, on one count of child rape and five counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. He timely appealed his convictions.

Represented by new counsel, defendant filed a motion for a new trial under Mass.R.Crim.P. 30(b),1 as appearing in 435 Mass. 1501 (2001), arguing that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to obtain and utilize certain school and psychiatric records of the victim to impeach her credibility2; the Commonwealth introduced…