Commonwealth v. Brown

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of assault and battery and witness intimidation and imposing a sentence of a one-year commitment to a house of correction, suspended for two years, probation, and restitution. On appeal, Defendant argued in part that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the witness intimidation prosecution because the “witness” at issue was not a “witness” but a “potential witness” at the time of the assault. The Court held (1) the district court properly exercised jurisdiction over the prosecution of Defendant for witness intimidation because “witness” in the jurisdictional statute includes “a witness or potential witness at any stage of a criminal investigation, grand jury proceeding, trial or other criminal proceeding of any type,” as protected by Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 268, 13B(1)(c)(i); and (2) the district court did not prejudicially err in denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial, revocation of bail, and order of payment of restitution. View "Commonwealth v. Brown" on Justia Law