Commonwealth v. Facella

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity and cruelty, denied Defendant’s motion for a new trial, and declined to exercise its power under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to reduce the verdict or order a new trial. The court held (1) the trial judge did not err by admitting, in the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief, evidence of Defendant’s previous incarceration; (2) the trial judge did not err by giving limiting instructions regarding prior bad act evidence admitted in the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief or in its timing regarding the limiting instructions; (3) the trial judge did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence of Defendant’s prior bad acts in the Commonwealth’s rebuttal case; and (4) nothing in the record warranted a reduced verdict or a new trial under section 33E. View "Commonwealth v. Facella" on Justia Law