Commonwealth v. Brangan
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of armed robbery while masked. The trial judge granted Defendant’s motion for a mistrial, determining that a series of the prosecutor’s statements made during closing argument constituted prejudicial error. The Commonwealth appealed, arguing that, although an order granting a mistrial is generally not appealable, the Supreme Judicial Court had jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the motion was granted after the verdict and thus was equivalent to a motion for relief from a guilty verdict under the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the trial judge’s order granting Defendant’s motion for a mistrial was not appealable.
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