Commonwealth v. Bonnett
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the motion judge denying Defendant's second motion for a new trial, holding that there was no clear error or abuse of discretion and that there was no reason for this Court to exercise its power under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to reduce the verdict or to grant a new trial.
Defendant was convicted of murder. In his second motion for a new trial, Defendant argued that new evidence cast real doubt on the justice of his conviction. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion judge found that Defendant had not met his burden of showing that the new evidence was material and credible or that it cast real doubt on the justice of his conviction. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that there was no abuse of discretion in the motion judge's conclusion that new witnesses who offered testimony implicating someone else were neither credible nor material and did not cast real doubt on the justice of Defendant's conviction.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.