Commonwealth v. Gonsalves
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree based on extreme atrocity or cruelty and the denial of Defendant's motion for a new trial, holding that there was no reversible error.
Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) there was sufficient evidence to prove extreme atrocity or cruelty; (2) the trial court did not commit prejudicial error by admitting evidence that Defendant sold marijuana as a potential motive for the crime; (3) Defendant was not entitled to a new trial based on his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; and (4) there was no reason to grant relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E.
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