Commonwealth v. Hall

After a mistrial, the defendant, Shane H. Hall, was retried and convicted by a Superior Court jury of rape, and acquitted of kidnapping. He appeals his conviction, claiming that where the victim’s seven-year delay in reporting the crime to law enforcement was used to attack her credibility, the judge committed reversible error by allowing prior bad act testimony, which provided the victim’s explanation for the lapse in time. He also complains that the judge permitted the prosecutor impermis*391sibly to play upon the jury’s sympathies and emotions during closing argument. We affirm.

Background. We…