Commonwealth v. Escobar

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the orders of the superior court on Appellant’s motions to vacate his conviction and dismiss the underlying charge, for a so-called “Cotto order” pursuant to Commonwealth v. Cotto, 471 Mass. 97 (2015), for postconviction discovery, and for a new trial.In his motions, Appellant argued that the Commonwealth had not fully investigated misconduct at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute. The judge determined that some limited postconviction discovery was warranted and concluded that she could not fairly rule on Appellant’s motion for a new trial until that limited discovery was complete. The judge denied the remaining motions. The Supreme Judicial Court held that, on the basis of the record that was before her, the superior court judge’s rulings were correct. View "Commonwealth v. Escobar" on Justia Law