Massachusetts recognizes a “first complaint” exception to the hearsay rule in sexual assault cases.
If the alleged victim of rape or sexual assault tells someone of the incident, that person can describe this “first complaint” at trial without violating the general rule against hearsay.
Today the Appeals Court held that this rule could not be used to admit an alleged victim’s diary into evidence at trial.
The primary issue on appeal is whether the judge abused her discretion by admitting one of [the alleged victim’s] diary entries as first complaint evidence…Because a person’s uncommunicated thoughts in a diary do not constitute a complaint, we conclude that it was error to allow [the alleged victim’s] diary in evidence under the first complaint doctrine. (Citations omitted.)
To read the full text of the slip opinion, click the document below.