Commonwealth v. Aviles, 461 Mass. 60

Marie was eight when she moved into the defendant's apartment with her mother and sister in 2002.
Over several months, Marie described indecent touching by Aviles on an air mattress in his bedroom.
One night in the bathroom, the defendant allegedly raped Marie; he warned her not to tell her mother.
Marie disclosed the rape to her grandmother in 2005 after seeing Aviles on television; police were subsequently contacted.
Lawsuit involved the admissibility of 'first complaint' testimony and the admission of a grand jury (verbal completeness) statement.
Trial proceedings focused on whether testimony about the grandmother disclosure and the grand jury statement violated the first complaint doctrine.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether grandmother disclosure violated first complaint doctrine	Aviles argues it was inadmissible as second/alternative complaint.	Disclosures to grandmother are not first complaint evidence and prejudicial.	Admissible to rebut fabrication, not as first complaint
Whether grandmother disclosure was prejudicial despite admissibility for rebuttal	Disclosure could bolster credibility of Marie's account.	Any such testimony would be prejudicial and improper under first complaint.	Not prejudicial given independent probative value under cross-examination
Whether testimony from Marie's mother about 2005 information was admissible	Evidence supports completeness of narrative.	Not admissible under first complaint doctrine; only as independent evidence.	Admissible as independent evidence to rebut fabrication, not as first complaint
Whether the grand jury testimony was admissible under verbal completeness	Completes context of Marie's grand jury testimony.	Introduces inflammatory, prejudicial material not necessary for understanding.	Admissible; portions tied to same subject and context, clarifying the record

Commonwealth v. King, 445 Mass. 217 (2005) (replaces fresh complaint with first complaint doctrine)
Commonwealth v. Arana, 453 Mass. 214 (2009) (limits on repetition of complaints; supports independent admissibility)
Commonwealth v. Tennison, 440 Mass. 553 (2003) (verbal completeness framework; admissibility of portions of statements)
Commonwealth v. Carmona, 428 Mass. 268 (1998) (verbal completeness clarifies context of admitted portions)
Commonwealth v. Dargon, 457 Mass. 387 (2010) (independently admissible evidence outside first complaint doctrine)
Commonwealth v. Kebreau, 454 Mass. 287 (2009) (two first complaint witnesses in escalating, long-term abuse context)
Commonwealth v. Montanez, 439 Mass. 441 (2003) (balance between credibility and prejudice in first complaint context)
Commonwealth v. Murungu, 450 Mass. 441 (2008) (two first complaint witnesses not always required; scope matters)