Commonwealth v. Moffat

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial judge’s denial of Defendant’s motion for postconviction testing of evidence, holding that thad Defendant failed to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his motion met the requirements of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278A, 7(b)(3) and (4).Defendant sought testing of four cigarette butts collected by investigators near the crime scene. The trial judge found that Defendant failed to meet his burden under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 178A, 7(b) to establish that a reasonably effective defense attorney would have sought testing of the evidence, and that DNA testing had the potential to result in evidence material to the identity of the perpetrator. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in denying Defendant’s motion. View "Commonwealth v. Moffat" on Justia Law