A.P. v. M.T. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-113-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 16-P-202 Appeals Court A.P. vs. M.T. No. 16-P-202. Essex. January 6, 2017. – September 1, 2017. Present: Kafker, C.J., Hanlon, & Agnes, JJ.[1] Civil Harassment. Harassment Prevention. Evidence, Cross-examination, Identification. Identification. Complaint for protection from harassment filed in the Essex County Division of the Juvenile Court Department on October 30, 2015. The case was heard by Mark Newman, J. Benjamin L. Falkner for the defendant. HANLON, J. After a hearing, a Juvenile Court judge extended a civil harassment order, pursuant to G. L. c. 258E, against a juvenile (the defendant, M.T.) who, along with another boy, was accused of committing an indecent assault and battery on a four year old neighbor girl (the plaintiff, A.P.). M.T. now appeals the ex parte order and the extension, arguing that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the issuance of the order; (2) the judge abused his discretion in limiting the cross-examination of A.P.’s mother (mother); and (3) the mother’s in-court identification of M.T. and the other boy was improper. M.T. asks this court to vacate the order and expunge all records or, in the alternative, to vacate the order and remand for further proceedings.[2] We affirm. Background.[3] A.P. and M.T. and their families live on a cul-de-sac. Their properties border one another, and are separated by a fence. The other boy’s property is in the same cul-de-sac, but does not border A.P.’s property. At the time of the incident, A.P. was four years old and had developmental delays related to speaking and expression. At the ex parte hearing, A.P.’s father (father) appeared alone and testified that he was at work when he received a telephone call from the mother.[4] The father summarized the events as the mother had relayed them to him: “[A.P.] was in the backyard in our fenced-in yard playing. We have a swing set, jungle gym, and some toys. And my wife’s Vietnamese. She’s pretty protective, generally won’t let the kids out of her sight for more than [ten] to [twenty] minutes, if that. So I don’t know how long she was out there. “But my wife went to the back door and hollered [A.P.]’s name. And our jungle gym sort of blocks — there’s a blind spot right behind the jungle gym. And [A.P.] came […]