Commonwealth v. Kowalski

On appeal from his conviction of rape, the defendant argues that the judge erred in allowing in evidence his prior criminal convictions and the records of those convictions, which contained prejudicial extraneous material, and in restricting the cross-examination of the victim and the di rect examination of two defense witnesses on the issue of the victim’s motive to lie. He also argues that the prosecutor’s closing argument contained prejudicial statements warranting reversal. We reverse.

1. Prior criminal convictions. The defendant argues that the judge did not weigh the danger of unfair…