Commonwealth v. DePina

After a jury trial, Defendants were each found guilty of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and related offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendants’ convictions and declined to reduce or set aside the verdicts under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E, holding (1) a certain witness’s grand jury testimony was properly admitted, and various statements in that testimony that Defendants claimed were independently inadmissible were also properly admitted; (2) certain portions of the prosecutor’s closing statement were not improper; (3) the jury instructions on immunized witness testimony were not error; (4) the trial judge did not err in denying Defendants’ motions to sever; and (5) the remaining issues raised by Defendants were without merit. View "Commonwealth v. DePina" on Justia Law