Commonwealth v. Cassidy

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (1) the trial court did not commit prejudicial evidentiary errors undermining Defendant’s right to present his defenses and depriving him of due process and fundamental fairness under the United States Constitution and Massachusetts Declaration of Rights; (2) an isolated misstatement by defense counsel during closing arguments did not create a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice; and (3) the judge improperly responded to a question posed by the jury, but the response did not prejudice Defendant. View "Commonwealth v. Cassidy" on Justia Law