Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Mountry
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided August 1, 2012PublishedCited by 14 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtSpina, J.
In Commonwealth v. Blache, 450 Mass. 583, 589 (2008), we held that where the Commonwealth relies on evidence that a rape victim was incapable of consent to establish the element of lack of consent and thereby reduce the degree of required force to that which is needed to effect penetration, “the Commonwealth should also prove the defendant’s knowledge of the complainant’s incapacitated state.” Today we hold that a defendant in such a case is entitled to have the jury instructed that they may consider credible evidence of his mental incapacity, by intoxication or otherwise, when deciding…
2Cases cited19 opinions
- Commonwealth v. LatimoreMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1979
- Commonwealth v. FlebotteMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1994
- Commonwealth v. MelloMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1995
- Commonwealth v. JoyceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1981
- Commonwealth v. JamesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1997
14 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by14 opinions
- Commonwealth v. McGheeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2015
- Commonwealth v. ParentMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2013
- Commonwealth v. JonesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2015
- Commonwealth v. AlvarezMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2018
- Commonwealth v. MontrondMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2017
9 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.