Commonwealth v. Honsch
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In 1995, the bodies of a woman and her daughter were found in separate locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. More than two decades later, the woman's husband was convicted for her murder. On appeal, he asserted that the evidence was insufficient to establish his identity and deliberate premeditation, and challenged the admissibility of his daughter's murder evidence, the testimony of two latent print examiners, and the limitation on introducing a potential third-party culprit.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the conviction. The court found no reversible error in the trial court's decisions and determined that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the husband was the perpetrator and committed the crime with deliberate premeditation. The court also ruled that the evidence of the daughter's murder was admissible to establish the identity of the perpetrator of the mother's murder. The court also found no issues with the testimony of the latent print examiners and did not find any unfair limitations on the defendant's ability to present evidence of a potential third-party culprit. Furthermore, the court ruled that the defendant's rights to confront witnesses were not violated by the testimony of the latent print examiners. Lastly, the court deemed that the defendant's argument on the degree of certainty expressed by the latent print examiners was unpreserved, and the error did not create a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice.
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