Commonwealth v. Ramsey

A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of incest, G. L. c. 272, § 17, and acquitted him of rape of a child, G. L. c. 265, § 23. He complains of multiple violations of the first complaint rule. He also asserts error in the exclusion of an alleged recantation, the improper questioning of a witness, and exclusion of a journal kept by Jane,1 the complainant. Because *845of the erroneous admission of some portions of Jane’s hospital records, we reverse.

Background..2 Jane, bom in 1985, was the Commonwealth’s principal witness. She testified that the defendant, her father, sexually abused her,…