Commonwealth v. Mosteller

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

This appeal requires that we consider the value of a prosecutrix’s recantation subsequent to trial, when her testimony at trial was the sole evidence upon which the Commonwealth depended to support the indictments against appellant for various sex crimes. We believe that on the record before us a new trial is necessary so that a new jury may pass on the prosecutrix’s credibility in light of subsequent events.

Appellant was convicted of incest, statutory rape, and corrupting the morals of a minor in a trial before a jury on June 12 and 13, 1968. The Commonwealth’s…