Commonwealth v. Rosario

In 1983, Defendant was convicted of one count of arson in a dwelling house and eight counts of murder in the second degree. In 2012, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, asserting newly discovered evidence regarding the conditions under which he confessed to the crime and recent fire research. A superior court judge allowed the motion, concluding that the newly discovered evidence cast real doubt on the justice of Defendant’s convictions. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, but on different grounds, holding that, under the totality of the judge’s findings and the confluence-of-factors analysis developed subsequent to her decision in this case, the judge did not abuse her discretion in concluding that justice was not done in this case. View "Commonwealth v. Rosario" on Justia Law