Commonwealth v. Herrick

The defendant appeals from his convictions of two charges of statutory rape of a minor arising out of an incident occurring on January 29, 1992. At that time, the victim was slightly under fifteen years old. Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion in limine, pursuant to G. L. c. 233, § 21B, the rape shield statute, to introduce evidence that he claimed revealed the complaining witness’s motive to fabricate the rape charges. He wanted to present evidence of her fear of a physical examination and to show she was at that time romantically involved with another young man. The defendant’s…