Commonwealth v. Cole
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and declined to grant relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E, holding (1) the trial judge did not err in admitting medical records and related testimony and by instructing the jury on consciousness of guilt; (2) the trial judge did not err in admitting expert testimony concerning the statistical significance of DNA evidence; (3) the trial judge did not err by admitting the victim’s T-shirt into evidence, despite a purported discovery violation by the Commonwealth; (4) the prosecutor did not commit misconduct during her opening statement or her closing argument; and (5) the trial judge properly denied Defendant’s motion for required findings of not guilty.
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