Commonwealth v. Shakespeare
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In the case of Commonwealth vs. William Omari Shakespeare, the defendant, Shakespeare, was convicted of murder in the first degree and related firearms offenses for the shooting death of Marcus Hall. Following the conviction, Shakespeare filed an appeal arguing that the evidence pointing to his guilt was insufficient and that the judge erred in not allowing the grand jury testimony of a deceased individual, Mark Edwards, who was present at the scene, to be admitted as evidence. Shakespeare also claimed that the police officer’s testimony about his observations of the video evidence was improperly admitted and that his trial counsel was ineffective.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that the evidence was sufficient for the conviction of murder in the first degree, however, the court concluded that it was an error to prohibit the admission of Edwards's grand jury testimony, which could have supported Shakespeare's defense that Edwards was the actual shooter. The court found that such error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, the court reversed all of Shakespeare's convictions and remanded the case for a new trial.
The court also ruled that the officer's testimony about his observations of the video evidence was admissible and the trial counsel was not ineffective.
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