Com. v. Stockhammer
| Citation | 409 Mass. 867,570 N.E.2d 992 |
| Parties | , 59 USLW 2743 COMMONWEALTH v. Jonathan STOCKHAMMER. |
| Decision Date | 01 May 1991 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts |
Nancy Gertner (Andrew Good with her), Boston, for defendant.
Margaret C. Parks, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the Com.
Harry C. Mezer, for Massachusetts Ass'n of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Boston, amicus curiae, submitted a brief.
Before LIACOS, C.J., and WILKINS, ABRAMS, NOLAN, LYNCH, O'CONNOR and GREANEY, JJ.
The defendant was convicted of rape, and assault with intent to commit rape, after a jury-waived trial in the Superior Court. The defendant appealed, and we transferred the case to this court on our own motion.
The defendant claims error in: (1) the denial of his motions for required findings of not guilty and a new trial based on the weight of the evidence; (2) the preclusion by the judge of cross-examination of the complainant regarding a specific basis for bias and motive to lie; and (3) the denial of his motion for an order authorizing counsel to examine certain treatment records of the complainant. The motions for required findings and for a new trial on the basis of the weight of the evidence were correctly denied. We agree with the defendant, however, that the judge should not have curtailed the cross-examination of the complainant as he did, and that counsel for both sides should have access to the complainant's treatment records. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the case for a new trial.
Both the complainant and the defendant testified that intercourse had occurred, but the evidence in most other respects was highly contradictory. We set forth the evidence and background of the case in some detail, beginning with facts about which there is no dispute. We then proceed to the discussion and decision of the issues.
A. Undisputed facts. In the fall of 1987, the defendant and the complainant started as freshmen at Brandeis University. They became close friends. At the same time, the complainant maintained an intimate relationship with a steady boy friend from home. Through the fall and early winter of 1987, the defendant and the complainant were confidants and sometimes spent time alone together in either of their dormitory rooms, but there was no sexual dimension to their relationship. On December 21, 1987, the complainant sent the defendant a birthday card in which she wrote, in part: "[Y]ou're the greatest friend I have, I love you." In March, 1988, the complainant signed a university rooming assignment form requesting to live with several other students, including the defendant. At the time of the central events described in this opinion, the defendant weighed approximately 100 pounds. The complainant weighed roughly 140 pounds.
B. Events of April 19, 1988. The complainant testified that, on April 19, 1988, she spent the day with her boy friend, who was in the Boston area visiting MIT, one of at least two schools that he was considering attending the following fall. The boy friend left the area that day at about 5 P.M and he and the complainant understood at that point that he probably would attend Yale the following year rather than MIT. After the boy friend's departure, the complainant went to dinner with a female suitemate and the defendant.
After dinner, the defendant accompanied the complainant back to her room. There was some conversation about the sexual experiences of a friend of the defendant, then the defendant made an advance toward the complainant (he followed her around the room and pulled at her clothing). The complainant rejected this overture, and the defendant left. Several hours later, the defendant called the complainant, reminded her about a plan that they had made at dinner to drink together that night, told her that he was coming over later, and asked her about procuring alcohol. The complainant agreed to the defendant's visit, then went to a friend's room and borrowed a bottle of "Southern Comfort" brand bourbon whiskey that was nearly full.
The complainant returned to her room and the defendant was there. 1 The complainant consumed one drink of Southern Comfort (a plastic cup one-half to three-quarters full). The defendant did not drink. The defendant made some sexual overtures that made the complainant feel uncomfortable and caused her to leave the room for about fifteen minutes, hoping that the defendant would leave. The defendant eventually brought the complainant back to her room. Once there, the defendant locked the door and removed his shirt.
The complainant was sitting on a chair next to the bed. The defendant pushed her from the chair onto the bed and got on top of her. While in this position, the defendant removed his pants, raised the complainant's shirt and skirt, removed the complainant's bra and underpants, and, holding her down, raped her. The complainant shook during the assault, pushed at the defendant with her hands, and told him to stop. During this struggle, the defendant's elbow accidentally struck the complainant's face and drew some blood inside her mouth. Then, sitting on the complainant's chest, the defendant attempted to force her to engage in oral sex. The complainant resisted by shaking her head. The defendant then dressed and left the complainant's room.
After the defendant left, the complainant called a classmate and close friend and told the friend that the defendant had raped her. The friend came over to the complainant's room. Once there, the complainant recounted what had happened, and showed the friend a small cut on the inside of her mouth, but she instructed the friend not to tell anyone about the incident.
The defendant described the events of April 19, 1988, quite differently. The defendant testified that, after dinner, he and the complainant returned to her bedroom, put on some music, danced, and kissed. The complainant then removed her shirt and apparently some mutual fondling occurred. At this point, the defendant left to attend a previously scheduled engagement with some friends. The defendant returned to the complainant's room later, and found the complainant wearing a bathrobe. The two then resumed the intimacies of earlier that evening, eventually disrobing and engaging in consensual intercourse. When they had finished, the defendant returned to his room. According to the defendant, no drinking occurred at any time during this evening.
C. Events after April 19, 1988. In May, 1988, the defendant accepted the complainant's standing offer to visit her at her parents' home in Connecticut. The complainant testified that her purpose in allowing the defendant to visit her was to try to resolve the issue of the rape with the defendant, but that this did not work. 2 According to the complainant, there were no further sexual relations between her and the defendant after April 19.
The defendant testified that he and the complainant had intercourse on numerous occasions after April 19, including on the first night of his visit to her home in Connecticut. When classes resumed the following fall, however, the defendant noticed that the complainant seemed to have lost interest in maintaining their friendship, but he did not know the reason for her changed attitude.
In December, 1988, the complainant and her boy friend ended their relationship. In January, 1989, the complainant ingested a large number of cold pills and was hospitalized at Waltham-Weston Hospital. She reported there that she was having a minor problem with her boy friend, but made no mention of having been raped. Soon thereafter, an anonymous telephone caller told the complainant's father that the complainant was telling others that she had been sexually assaulted. When confronted by her father, the complainant finally told him that the defendant had raped her. She later filed with the Waltham police a report charging the defendant with rape.
After her stay at the Waltham-Weston Hospital (January 29-30, 1989), the complainant was treated as an inpatient at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center from February 1-6, 1989. From February 7 through June 6, 1989, the complainant received counseling from a Greenwich, Connecticut, social worker on an outpatient basis. The defendant sought and was allowed access to the Waltham-Weston Hospital records. The judge also ordered the production of any and all records of psychotherapists or counselors who treated the complainant after April 19, 1988. The social worker's records were produced. After an in camera inspection, the court ruled that they need not be disclosed and would not be admitted at trial. The New York Hospital records were not produced at this time. In fact, defense counsel did not learn until after the trial that the complainant had been a patient there. Additional facts appear below in relation to specific claims of error.
1. Sufficiency of the evidence. Pointing to weaknesses and contradictions in the Commonwealth's evidence, the defendant argues that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. There are two apparent aspects to this argument: (1) the judge erred in denying the defendant's motions for required findings of not guilty; and (2) the judge abused his discretion in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence.
(a) Motions for required findings. ...
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