Commonwealth v. Olivier

This case presents a question of first impression about the adequacy of the subsequent offense portion of an indictment where, on the main indictment, a defendant is convicted not of the charged offense, but of a lesser included offense that carries a subsequent offense enhancement.

The defendant was indicted on December 15, 2011, on ten counts. Count 1 charged rape of a child by force under G. L. c. 265, § 22A. A second part of that count, captioned “Forcible Rape of a Child — Subsequent Offense,” charged that at the time of the offense charged in the first count the defendant “was previously…