Commonwealth v. DiBenedetto

After a second trial, a jury found Defendant guilty of two counts of murder in the first degree. Defendant later filed a motion for a new trial on the basis of new DNA evidence. The motion judge denied the motion without a hearing. Defendant filed a gatekeeper petition pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E, and was granted leave to appeal the denial of the motion to the full court. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order denying the motion and remanded for further findings. After a nonevidentiary hearing, the motion judge again denied Defendant’s motion for a new trial. Defendant filed a notice of appeal and a petition in the county court to reinstate his appeal in the full court. A single justice treated Defendant’s petition to reinstate his appeal as a second gatekeeper petition and denied the petition. Defendant then filed a motion in the full court to reinstate his appeal. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial, holding (1) the reinstatement of Defendant’s appeal was appropriate; and (2) the motion judge did not abuse his discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial. View "Commonwealth v. DiBenedetto" on Justia Law