Commonwealth v. Bedard
Cases that cite this one
10 later published cases cite this decision.
- Commonwealth v. Amirault (Mass. 1989)
- Commonwealth v. Lagacy (Mass. App. Ct. 1987)
- Commonwealth v. McDonough (Mass. 1987)
- Commonwealth v. Adams (Mass. App. Ct. 1987)
- Commonwealth v. Comtois (Mass. 1987)
- Commonwealth v. Gonsalves (Mass. App. Ct. 1986)
- Commonwealth v. Coull (Mass. App. Ct. 1985)
- Commonwealth v. Hannaford (Mass. App. Ct. 1980)
- Commonwealth v. Edwards (Mass. App. Ct. 1979)
- Commonwealth v. Healey (Mass. App. Ct. 1979)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion of the Court
There is no absolute rule of law as to the time within which the victim of a sexual assault must make her first complaint of the assault in order to qualify that complaint for admission in evidence as a fresh complaint. See Commonwealth v. Bailey, 370 Mass. 388, 390, 391-392, 392-393 (1976). It is clear from the evidence at voir dire and from the judge’s findings thereon that the victim’s first complaint in this case was made within a period of time following the rapes which was reasonably prompt in light of all the circumstances. Nothing more was required. The relevant cases are collected in Commonwealth v. Lund, 5 Mass. App. Ct. 884 (1977).
Judgments affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.