Abrams, J.
After trial by jury, the defendant, Murray Helfant, was convicted of rape and of drugging a person for unlawful sexual intercourse.1 The defendant appealed his convictions, [216]*216and we transferred the case to this court. As grounds for his appeal, the defendant claims that the trial judge erred in (1) denying the defendant’s motions for required findings of not guilty; (2) prohibiting defense counsel from rehabilitating the defendant on a critical portion of his testimony; (3) allowing testimony of the defendant’s prior misconduct; (4) denying the defendant’s motions to sever the indictments; and (5) admitting evidence of fresh complaint. The defendant also argues that G. L. c. 272, § 3, is unconstitutionally vague. We affirm.
1a. Required findings of not guilty. At the close of the Commonwealth’s case, and again at the close of the evidence, the defendant moved unsuccessfully for required findings of not guilty. The standard of review we apply to the denial of a defendant’s motion for a required finding of not guilty is stated in Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 677-678 (1979): ‘“[The] question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most fávorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt’ [emphasis in original]. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-319 (1979) . . . . Thus, to sustain the denial of a directed verdict, it is not enough for the appellate court to find that there was some record evidence, however slight, to support each essential element of the offense; it must find that there was enough evidence that could have satisfied a rational trier of fact of each such element beyond a reasonable doubt.” See Commonwealth v. Barry, 397 Mass. 718, 719-720 (1986); Commonwealth v. Anderson, 396 Mass. 306, 311-312 (1985). We consider the state of the evidence both at the close of the Commonwealth’s case and at the close of the evidence.2
We summarize the evidence as it may have appeared to the jury. The defendant, a fifty-one year old neurosurgeon, practiced medicine at the Framingham Union Hospital, where the complainant worked as a radiologic technologist. The defendant and the complainant dated from September, 1980, to Feb[217]*217ruary, 1981. On August 15, 1983, the complainant injured her back. On September 6, 1983, she spoke with the defendant by telephone and made an appointment for September 9. On September 7, the defendant telephoned the complainant and suggested that he examine her at her apartment instead. On September 8, he arrived at her apartment at 1 p.m., and examined the complainant on her bed. He told her that she had a muscle spasm and recommended an injection of Valium to relax her muscles. He then administered an injection of five to ten milligrams of Valium.
The complainant testified that immediately after the injection she became virtually unconscious, did not feel the needle being removed, and felt “[v]cry groggy. Very out of it. Very heavy. . . . Like I couldn’t move my arm or my legs.” Sometime later, a ringing telephone awakened her. The defendant told her not to answer the telephone, but, after it had rung several times, she answered. The complainant recalled speaking with her friend, Lisa Block, but could not remember the conversation. She then noticed that the defendant was lying naked beside her, that her clothes had been removed, and that the defendant was “handling” her crotch. The complainant “blacked out again” and later reawoke to find the defendant on top of her, having intercourse with her. She did not remember saying anything to the defendant at this time. Her mind was “in a fog . . . like it wasn’t real .... Like I was in like a Twilight Zone.” She lost consciousness and reawoke to find the defendant having intercourse with her again. She asked him “why he was doing it, because wouldn’t it hurt my back?” He replied that “the medicine would take care of it.” Again she fell asleep and later reawoke; she saw the defendant dressing and heard water mnning in the bathroom. At the defendant’s request, she got out of bed to let him out of the apartment. Her legs were “[l]ike rubber” and she felt like she had “about ten drinks.” The defendant departed at about 2:45 p.m. and the complainant fell back asleep.
The complainant’s mother and two of her friends testified that they spoke with the. complainant by telephone between 3 and 3:30 p.m. They, along with Lisa Block (who had called [218]*218earlier), each said that the complainant’s speech was slow, slurred, and groggy. She made no mention of rape. The complainant remembered receiving the telephone calls, but had no recollection of what was said. Later in the afternoon, when another friend telephoned, the complainant began to realize what had happened. The complainant reported her allegation of rape to a series of people throughout the rest of the day and the next morning.
Two physicians testified on the proper dosage of intravenous Valium and to the probable effects of injecting it into a twenty-six year old woman. Doctor Jonathan Moss told the jurors that intravenous Valium was used almost exclusively to sedate people prior to operations because it is “an amnesia drug . . . patients frequently don’t remember even going to the operating room until their procedure is over.” It renders them “more pliable” and lessens their protestations and resistance to uncomfortable procedures. Intravenous Valium sedates people physically, relieves their anxiety, and stops them from moving or trembling. Most patients receiving a five to ten milligram Valium injection would “become very tranquil and fall spontaneously off to sleep” and their decision-making capacity, thought processes, physical coordination and speech would be impaired for several hours. Doctor Robert Boyd stated that the accepted treatment for muscle spasms in the back is bed rest, with oral doses of pain relievers and muscle relaxants when necessary; intravenous injection of Valium would not be recommended because of the potential for “serious and devastating consequences.”
The defendant claimed that he came to the complainant’s apartment, examined her, and prescribed bed rest and an oral dose of Valium. In order to give her immediate relief from the spasm she was then experiencing, he injected her with five milligrams of Valium. He denied having intercourse with the complainant.
lb. We consider first the defendant’s argument that he was entitled to a required finding of not guilty on the drugging charge because the complainant’s testimony was not corrobo[219]*219rated in a material particular. See G. L. c. 272, § 11.3 Under G. L. c. 272, § 3,4 the elements of the crime of drugging for sexual intercourse are (1) administration of a drug and (2) intent to stupefy or overpower the victim in order to have unlawful sexual intercourse. Besides the complainant’s testimony, the Commonwealth introduced testimony from an investigating police officer that he saw an injection mark on the complainant’s arm and from an expert toxicologist that, on the night of the incident, his analysis of the complainant’s blood indicated a level of Valium consistent with an intravenous injection of five to ten milligrams of Valium within the past 16 hours. Further, the defendant admitted to injecting the complainant with Valium that day. This evidence amply corroborates a material particular of the plaintiff’s testimony — that the defendant administered a drug to her.
The defendant argues that because he did not contest that he administered a drug to the complainant, that issue cannot be considered a “material particular.” We do not agree. While we have not heretofore attempted to define “material particular” as used in G. L. c. 272, § 11, the cases suggest that the term applies to some specific testimonial fact, which, in the context of the case, is probative on an element of the crime. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 353 Mass. 233, 234-235 (1967) (defendant’s admission that he had been at complainant’s apartment not “material particular” on indictment for unlawful sexual intercourse with feeble-minded female); Commonwealth v. Taschetta, 252 Mass. 158, 160 (1925) (testimony by defense witnesses that defendant took woman to house and then left house with her a “material particular” on indictment for fraudulently enticing and taking away woman for purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse); Commonwealth v. Bucaulis, 6 Mass. App. Ct. 59, 64 (1978) (testimony of police officers regarding their observations of man and woman in lounge [220]*220“material particular” in prosecution for knowingly having suffered presence of certain females for purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse in premises under defendant’s control). Cf. Commonwealth v. Forde, 392 Mass. 453, 458 (1984) (undisputed fact of victim’s death sufficient to corroborate defendant’s confession to murder); Commonwealth v. DeBrosky, 363 Mass. 718, 728-730 (1973) (interpreting G. L. c. 233, § 201, providing no defendant shall be convicted solely on the testimony of an immunized witness). Because the defendant could not be convicted on the drugging charge without proof of the injection, facts probative on that point must be considered material particulars. In essence, the defendant would have us read the requirement of corroboration of a material particular as corroboration of a “disputed issue of material fact” as that phrase is used and understood in the consideration of summary judgment motions in civil practice. See Mass. R. Civ. P. 56 (c), 365 Mass. 824 (1974). See, e.g., Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Csongor, 391 Mass. 737, 740-743 (1984); Community Nat’l Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. 550, 556 (1976). However, G. L. c. 272, § 11, does not require that the material particular be disputed, and we decline to read such a requirement into the plain words of the statute.
1c. On the rape charge, the defendant claims, based on his reading of Commonwealth v. Goldenberg, 338 Mass. 377, 383, cert. denied, 359 U.S. 1001 (1959), that, where the complainant is possessed of her faculties, the amount of actual force required to sustain proof of rape must exceed that which is necessary to accomplish mere intercourse. Because there was no evidence that the complainant resisted, the defendant claims, the Commonwealth did not sustain its burden of proof.
“The essence of the crime of rape, whether aggravated or unaggravated, is sexual intercourse with another compelled by force and against the victim’s will or compelled by threat of bodily injury. See G. L. c. 265, §§ 22 (a) & (b).” Commonwealth v. Sherry, 386 Mass. 682, 687 (1982). In Commonwealth v. Burke, 105 Mass. 376 (1870), this court held that in Massachusetts, as under the common law, “the words ‘against [the victim’s] will,’ in the standard definitions [221]*221[of rape], mean exactly the same thing as ‘without [the victim’s] consent. ’ ” Id. at 377. Because the victim there was “so drunk as to be utterly senseless and incapable of consenting,” the court upheld the conviction based on proof only of “such force as was necessary to effect the purpose.” Id. at 377. Accord Commonwealth v. D’Ambrosio, 318 Mass. 779 (1945); Commonwealth v. Roosnell, 143 Mass. 32, 40 (1886). Nothing in the subsequent amendments to the statutory definition of the crime of rape casts doubt on the continued vitality of Burke.
In Commonwealth v. Goldenberg, supra, on which the defendant relies exclusively, this court reversed a conviction of rape where the complainant’s consent had been obtained by fraud. The court reasoned that the “essence of the crime is not the fact of intercourse but the injury and outrage to the feelings of the [victim] by the forceful penetration of her person. . . . Fraud cannot be allowed to supply the place of the force which the statute makes mandatory.” Id. at 384.5 In Goldenberg, the court specifically stated: “This is not a case where a woman is incapable of consent by reason of stupefaction, unconsciousness or helplessness, and the amount of force required to commit the crime may be only that sufficient to effect the intercourse. Commonwealth v. Burke, 105 Mass. 376.” Id. at 383.
There was ample evidence from which a jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant was incapable of consent. She was injected with Valium and rendered unconscious. She awoke from her stupor only when jarred by noises such as a ringing telephone and by the motion of the defendant’s body on top of her own. Her speech was barely coherent. There was also evidence that intravenous Valium is used in hospitals to lessen patients’ capacity to resist or protest invasive procedures. The court’s conclusion in Burke is particularly apt here: “[T]he crime, which the evidence in this case tended to prove, of a man’s having carnal intercourse [222]*222with a woman, without her consent, while she was, as he knew, wholly insensible so as to be incapable of consenting and with such force as was necessary to accomplish the purpose, was rape.” Id. at 380-381.
2. Exclusion of rehabilitation testimony. On cross-examinatian, the defendant testified that he had taken back to the hospital the needle, syringe, and other items used to give the Valium injection. He conceded that, although he knew there was a wastebasket in the complainant’s apartment, he had originally told the police that because he could not find a wastebasket there, he returned the items to the hospital. On redirect examination, the defendant explained that he had told the police he could not find a wastebasket “[bjecause I did not want the police to know the reason I would not leave a syringe and needle in that apartment.” When defense counsel asked the defendant to state his reason, the Commonwealth objected. Defense counsel made an offer of proof that the defendant would say “that he knew that [the complainant] used cocaine and that some of her friends used cocaine; that under those circumstances he wouldn’t leave the needle.” The judge sustained the objection and indicated she might prohibit the prosecutor from arguing the point to the jury. The prosecutor did not mention this point again either during trial or in his closing.
We agree with the defendant that he should have been permitted to explain the reason for his statement to the police. “It is well established that a witness may explain, modify, or correct damaging testimony that was elicited on cross-examination.” Commonwealth v. Mandeville, 386 Mass. 393, 400 (1982), and cases cited. The defendant admitted on cross-examination that he had fabricated a reason for removing the needle and syringe from the complainant’s apartment. He had a right to explain why he had lied to the police. Commonwealth v. Kerrigan, 345 Mass. 508, 513 (1963), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 1004 (1964). Commonwealth v. Fatalo, 345 Mass. 85, 87 (1962).6
[223]*223Nevertheless, we conclude that, in the circumstances of the case, the error was nonprejudicial. In cases in which similar errors have been held to require reversal, the attempted rehabilitation involved the defendant’s credibility on a major, if not the decisive, issue in the case. In Commonwealth v. Ferreira, 373 Mass. 116, 130-131 (1977), the trial turned on a battle of credibility between the defendant and the Commonwealth’s chief witness, one Silva, each of whom accused the other of shooting a police officer. On redirect examination, the defendant was prevented from explaining why, while in custody and after Silva denounced him, he refused to give a statement to police accusing Silva. In Commonwealth v. Fatalo, 345 Mass. 85 (1962), the defendant was not permitted to explain a crucial discrepancy in his alibi testimony. If the alibi had been believed, the defendant might have been acquitted. Id. at 88. In Commonwealth v. Smith, 329 Mass. 477, 478 (1952), a witness for the defense was prevented from explaining an apparent lie in his testimony; if believed, the testimony would have tended to confirm the defendant’s alibi.
In this case, even if the jury were to have heard and believed the defendant’s explanation of his reason for not telling the police why he had taken the needle and syringe, we can say with fair assurance that a reasonable jury would not have returned a different verdict. See Commonwealth v. Reed, 397 Mass. 440, 443 & n.4 (1986); Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 763-765 (1946). The testimony related to a subject wholly collateral to the issues then being tried. Commonwealth v. Mandeville, supra. The defendant admitted to the police and at trial that he had injected the complainant with Valium. Given this admission, the jury had no reason to infer that the defendant attempted to conceal the syringe from the police because of a guilty frame of mind concerning the injection. No further mention of the testimony was made during the re[224]*224mainder of the fifteen-day trial or in the prosecutor’s closing. The defendant’s explanation for removing the needle and syringe from the apartment does not in any way contradict or detract from the substantial evidence of his guilt. We therefore conclude that any prejudice to the defendant arising from this error did not possibly weaken his case in any significant way. See Commonwealth v. Schulze, 389 Mass. 735, 741 (1983).
3. Evidence of prior misconduct. Over the defendant’s objection, two other women, L.J. and K.H., testified that, when they were patients of the defendant, he came to their apartments, injected them with Valium and then sexually molested them while they were under the influence of the drug. The defendant claims the admission of this evidence was erroneous because its questionable probative value on the drugging charge was outweighed by its prejudicial impact and because the evidence was clearly not relevant to the charge of rape, yet no limiting instruction could confine the jury’s consideration of the prior misconduct exclusively to the drugging charge.
It is well settled that the prosecution may not introduce evidence that a defendant previously has misbehaved, indictably or not, for the purposes of showing his bad character or propensity to commit the crime charged, but such evidence may be admissible if relevant for some other purpose. Commonwealth v. Drew, 397 Mass. 65, 79 (1986). Commonwealth v. Trapp, 396 Mass. 202, 206 (1985). Commonwealth v. Bradshaw, 385 Mass. 244, 269 (1981). Commonwealth v. Stone, 321 Mass. 471, 473 (1947). Such evidence can be highly prejudicial to the defendant, and therefore must be excluded unless it comes within one of the permitted uses, such as to show a common scheme, pattern of operation, absence of accident or mistake, identity, intent, or motive. Commonwealth v. Schoening, 379 Mass. 234, 242 (1979), and cases cited. Accord Commonwealth v. Lowe, 391 Mass. 97, 106, cert. denied, 469 U.S. 840 (1984) (victim’s state of mind); Commonwealth v. Weichell, 390 Mass. 62, 73 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1032 (1984) (motive); Commonwealth v. King, 387 Mass. 464, 472 (1982) (common course or pattern of conduct); Commonwealth v. Gallison, 383 Mass. 659, 672-673 (1981) [225]*225(same); Commonwealth v. Young, 382 Mass. 448, 463 (1981) (“entire relationship” between defendant and victim); Commonwealth v. Imbruglia, 377 Mass. 682, 695 (1979) (knowledge); Commonwealth v. Campbell, 371 Mass. 40, 42-43 (1976) (distinctive modus operandi); Commonwealth v. Fleury-Ehrhart, 20 Mass. App. Ct. 429, 431 (1985) (pattern of conduct). Of course, as with all evidence, it must be relevant to the offense charged; where the relevance is not substantial but borderline, the evidence must be excluded unless its probative value on the issue in contention outweighs the undue prejudice that may flow from it. See Commonwealth v. Blow, 362 Mass. 196, 201 (1972).
The judge in this case, commendably sensitive to the potential for undue prejudice from the introduction of irrelevant evidence, conducted a voir dire and strictly limited the scope of the two witnesses’ testimony to the defendant’s sexual misconduct associated with injections of Valium in patients’ homes.7 L.J. testified that in November, 1980, when she was twenty-two, she consulted the defendant twice in his office for treatment of migraine headaches. In January, 1981, the defendant proposed that he come to her home to administer a ten milligram injection of Valium. When he arrived, he persuaded L.J., despite her misgivings, to change into a nightgown, and then gave her the injection. While she was under the influence of the Valium and “fading in and out,” the defendant had intercourse with her. K.H. testified that she injured her back in June, 1981, and spent one week in the Framingham Union Hospital under the defendant’s care. After her discharge, K.H. suffered a muscle spasm on July 1, 1981. Her roommate gave her a Valium tablet at about 7 p.m. and telephoned the defendant. K.H. fell asleep in her bed and awakened when the defendant arrived at 11 p.m. Although she told the defendant that she was no longer in pain, he insisted on examining her and giving her a ten milligram Valium injection. Almost immediately she [226]*226began to feel “heavy” and “immobilized,” was “unable to get up or move” and “could still speak, but [she] distinctly rememberfed] having a delayed reaction; that is, thinking the thoughts but not having them come out at the normal rate.” The defendant then pulled down her nightgown and started fondling her breasts. When he expressed feelings of guilt about desiring a sexual relationship with her, she replied, “If you feel guilty, you should stop.”
The judge instructed the jury that both witnesses’ testimony could be considered only on the drugging indictment, not on the rape, and only for the limited purpose of whether it “tends to prove the existence of a plan or scheme or state of mind on the part on the defendant.”8 The judge also charged the jury that they were not to use the two witnesses’ testimony at all unless they believed it beyond a reasonable doubt.9 The instructions were strong and forceful.
Although the question is close, we conclude there was no error. On the drugging indictment, the Commonwealth was obliged to prove as an element of the crime that the defendant administered the drug “with intent to stupefy or overpower [the complainant] so as thereby to enable any person to have unlawful sexual intercourse with [the complainant].” G. L. c. 272, § 3 (1984 ed.). The defendant claimed that he gave the injection for therapeutic reasons, not with criminal intent. The Commonwealth offered expert testimony that the defendant’s conduct was inconsistent with good medical practice.10
[227]*227In these circumstances the defendant’s conduct with L.J. and K.H. which was remarkably similar to the complainant’s complaint was highly probative. The defendant came to the homes of young women with whom he had a doctor-patient relationship, injected them with Valium, and then sexually molested them while they were physically and mentally unable to express resistance. See Commonwealth v. King, 387 Mass. 464, 469-473 (1982). The evidence showed a distinctive pattern of conduct — nonhospital administration of intravenous Valium — contrary to accepted medical practice and associated with sexual molestation of the patients.11 The challenged evidence was relevant and material to the disputed issue of the defendant’s intent in administering the drug. It tended to show the defendant’s state of mind when administering the drug, to rebut the defense of innocent, therapeutic intent and to make more probable the existence of the requisite illegal intent.12 Commonwealthy. Fleury-Ehrhart, 20 Mass. App. Ct. 429, 431 (1985). People v. Thompson, 27 Cal.3d 303, 319 (1980) (“if a person acts similarly in similar situations, he probably harbors the same intent in each instance”). People v. Thomas, 20 Cal.3d 457, 465 (1978) (“evidence of a common design or plan would bear either on the issue of the defendant’s identity as the perpetrator of the charged offense, or the defendant’s intent to commit that offense” [emphasis in original]). See also People [228]*228v. Tassell, 36 Cal.3d 77, 88-89 & nn. 6 & 8 (1984); State v. Hatcher, 372 So.2d 1024, 1028-1029, 1034-1035 (La. 1979); People v. Davis, 343 Mich. 348, 363-364 (1955); State v. Lapage, 57 N.H. 245, 294 (1876); Rex v. Smith, 11 Crim. App. 229 (1915). See generally E.J. Imwinkelried, Uncharged Misconduct Evidence § 5 (1984); 2 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 302 (Chadboume rev. 1979). Although the incidents occurred some three years apart, we do not believe the interval too great, given the distinctiveness and near-identicality of the conduct and its context within the defendant’s professional career.13
This testimony was admitted only with respect to the drugging charge. Before each witness testified, and in the charge, tile judge forcefully instructed the jury — at the defendant’s request — not to consider the testimony with respect to the rape charge. The defendant now contends that, even if the evidence was admissible on the drugging charge, it was so prejudicial that no limiting instruction could be expected to confine the jury’s use of the evidence.
“Jurors are expected to follow instructions to disregard matters withdrawn from their consideration.” Commonwealth v. Cameron, 385 Mass. 660, 668 (1982). The judge’s instructions were clear, and we must presume the jury followed them. [229]*229Commonwealth v. Errington, 390 Mass. 875, 882 (1984). Commonwealth v. Jackson, 384 Mass. 572, 579 (1981). Although a trial judge may of course exclude evidence admissible on one indictment because of the potential for undue prejudice on a jointly-tried indictment, the judge here did not abuse her discretion or err as a matter of law by admitting the testimony.14 Based on her on-the-scene assessment of the trial and of the witnesses’ testimony on voir dire, she properly could conclude that the potential for undue prejudice would be minimized by strictly limiting the scope of testimony and by instructing the jury.15
4. Denial of the motion to sever. At trial, the defendant moved unsuccessfully to sever the indictments on the grounds that the indictments required disparate elements of proof and that the admission of the prior bad acts testimony on the drugging charge would have a prejudicial spillover effect on the indictment charging rape. Later, the defendant again moved to sever, this time on the ground that he would be unreasonably prejudiced on the rape indictment because conviction on the drugging indictment required the jury to find that the complainant’s testimony be corroborated in a material particular.16
[230]*230The decision whether to sever indictments lies within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Commonwealth v. Sylvester, 388 Mass. 749, 754 (1983). Commonwealth v. Gallison, 383 Mass. 659, 671 (1981). Commonwealth v. Jervis, 368 Mass. 638, 645 (1975), and cases cited. Joinder is permitted if the offenses constitute a single line of conduct, grow out of essentially one transaction, and would be proved by substantially the same evidence. See Commonwealth v. Blow, 362 Mass. 196, 200 (1972). Where those criteria are not satisfied and the defendant may be prejudiced by the cumulative evidence of the several offenses, severance is required. Id. at 201. The defendant bears the burden to show that prejudice will result from the failure to sever and that such prejudice is beyond the curative powers of the court’s instructions. Commonwealth v. Gallison, supra.
The defendant has failed to sustain that burden. The two offenses could be proved by “evidence connected with a single line of conduct, and grow out of what is essentially one transaction.” Commonwealth v. Maloney, 348 Mass. 610, 614 (1965). The drugging indictment would be incomprehensible without evidence of subsequent sexual intercourse; the complainant’s testimony concerning the rape would have been incredible without evidence that she had been drugged. Most of the evidence was admissible on both indictments and the judge gave limiting instructions on the remainder. At the defendant’s request, the judge limited the use of fresh complaint evidence [231]*231to the rape charge, and the defendant does not now contend that that evidence was so prejudicial as to be beyond the power of curative instructions. Also at the defendant’s request, the judge limited evidence of prior misconduct to the drugging charge and gave clear, forceful, and extensive instructions.
We add that severance would have resulted in a second proceeding, largely duplicative of the first. See Commonwealth v. Hoppin, 387 Mass. 25, 33 (1982); Commonwealth v. Gallison, supra at 673. In such circumstances, the judge properly could conclude that prejudice, if any, to the defendant did not outweigh the interests of the court, the Commonwealth, and the public in a shortened adjudication. See Commonwealth v. Sylvester, supra at 758, and authorities cited. We conclude that there was no error in denying the defendant’s motions to sever.
5. Evidence of fresh complaints. The defendant contends that the judge erred in admitting testimony that the victim made a “fresh complaint” of the rape to several people. The defendant concedes fresh complaint of a recent rape normally is admissible, see Commonwealth v. Bailey, 370 Mass. 388 (1976), but argues that the evidence in this case was stale.
The evidence was as follows. The defendant arrived at the complainant’s apartment at about 1 p.m. and, after examining her, administered the Valium injection. The complainant received one telephone call before the defendant left at 2:45 p.m. and three more calls between then and 3:30 p.m. All four callers testified to the effect that the complainant was groggy and her speech slurred and unclear, but that she made no mention of rape. Sometime between 3:30 and 4:45 (the testimony was divergent), as the complainant became more awake, she received another phone call from a friend. She described the injection, falling asleep, and awakening with the realization that she was naked and that the defendant was having intercourse with her. Her friend asked, “Don’t you realize that you have been raped?” The complainant then started crying and became hysterical. Over the next ten to twelve hours, there followed a series of telephone and in-person conversations with other friends, an attorney, and a police officer, in which the complainant repeated her narrative of the incident.
[232]*232Before introduction of the fresh complaint evidence, the defendant moved to exclude all conversations in which the complainant reported that she had been raped. The defendant argued, and renews the argument here, that because the complainant failed to tell earlier callers she had been raped, her later complaints were unreasonably delayed. The judge made the preliminary finding that the statements were sufficiently prompt to constitute fresh complaints, see Commonwealth v. Cleary, 172 Mass. 175, 177 (1898). The judge instructed the jury to use fresh complaint testimony only in corroboration of the rape charge. She instructed the jurors to consider the timing and circumstances of the complaints in assessing the weight of this evidence.
There was no error. There was ample evidence that, when the complainant received the first four phone calls, she was under the influence of a Valium injection, barely conscious, and severely handicapped in her ability to express herself. The fact that the complainant retained some minimal capacity to speak when a ringing telephone awakened her from a drug-induced stupor does not render her subsequent statements unreasonably remote. See Commonwealth v. Sherry, 386 Mass. 682, 691 (1982); Commonwealth v. McGrath, 364 Mass. 243, 249-250 (1973); Commonwealth v. Izzo, 359 Mass. 39, 42-43 (1971). We conclude that there is no error in the admission of this evidence.
6. Constitutionality of G. L. c. 272, § 3. The defendant challenges his indictment on the drugging charge on the ground that G. L. c. 272, § 3, is unconstitutionally vague. The defendant’s argument is not timely. The defendant did not raise this objection before or even during trial. We need not consider issues not raised below.17 Commonwealth v. Lam Hue To, 391 Mass. 301, 308 (1984).
Judgments affirmed.