Commonwealth v. Simmons

About ten days before the start of the defendant’s trial on indictments for rape, armed assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, two police officers took the victim onto private property, owned by the defendant’s mother-in-law, to view a motor vehicle that was parked near the driveway. The assistant district attorney in charge of the case instructed the police to make arrangements for the victim to see the motor vehicle because in a pretrial interview she had been unable to identify the model of the motor vehicle driven by her assailant. Without a…