Commonwealth v. Jones
After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 13B, and one indictment charging dissemination of matter harmful to minors, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, 28. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) during the time period alleged in the indictment, section 28 was not unconstitutionally over broad because, contrary to Defendant's assertions, the statute implicitly required a defendant’s knowledge that the person receiving the harmful matter was a minor; and (2) the prosecutor’s suggestion that the defendant would have committed further sexual offenses against one of the child victims had the child not moved away was improper but, in the context of the entire closing argument, did not create a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. View "Commonwealth v. Jones" on Justia Law