Commonwealth v. McCrae

The defendant was convicted on two counts of a three-count complaint for indecent assault and battery on a person fourteen years of age or older. He was acquitted on a third count. His counsel’s strategy at trial was to argue that the defendant made an honest mistake of fact about the willingness of the complainant to engage in sexual foreplay, a defense not available to him as a matter of law. See Commonwealth v. Sim*28cock, 31 Mass. App. Ct. 184, 189-192 (1991). See also Commonwealth v. Ascolillio, 405 Mass. 456, 463 (1989); Commonwealth v. Lopez, 433 Mass. 722 (2001); Commonwealth v. Fionda,…