Commonwealth v. Simpkins

Defendant was indicted on charges of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, accessory after the fact to murder, and unlawful possession of firearms. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of accessory after the fact and unlawful possession of firearms. Because the jury could not reach a verdict on the indictments charging murder and armed assault with intent to murder, the judge declared a mistrial as to those indictments. The Commonwealth subsequently requested that sentencing on the indictments on which Defendant was found guilty be postponed until he could be retried on the indictments that were mistried. Defendant moved to dismiss the mistried indictments, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred by not allowing his motion for required findings of not guilty as to the mistried indictments. The Supreme Judicial Court agreed with Defendant and reversed the denial of the motion for required findings of not guilty as to the mistried indictments and directed entry of verdicts of not guilty as to those indictments because the Commonwealth did not satisfy its burden of proof. Remanded for sentencing. View "Commonwealth v. Simpkins" on Justia Law