Commonwealth v. Chatman

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After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree. During the pendency of his appeal, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that he had not been competent to stand trial. The motion judge denied the motion after a nonevidentiary hearing. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing. After four days of evidentiary hearings, the motion judge again denied Defendant’s motion. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and the denial of his motion for a new trial and declined to exercise its authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E, holding (1) Defendant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the Commonwealth would not have been able to meet its burden at a competency proceeding had the issue been raised prior to or at trial; and (2) therefore, Defendant’s motion for a new trial was correctly denied, and, as this was the only issue raised by Defendant in his appeal, the judgment stands. View "Commonwealth v. Chatman" on Justia Law