Commonwealth v. Dame
Annotate this CaseDefendant was investigated for, but not indicted for, a 1974 murder. More than twenty-five years later, DNA analysis of tissue taken from under the fingernails of the victim led to Defendant’s indictment for the murder. In 2012, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. Just before Defendant filed his appellate brief with the Supreme Judicial Court, he filed a motion to stay the execution of his sentence. A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court denied the motion. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of a paper towel that the police seized from Defendant’s vehicle, but the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the trial judge did not err in denying Defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss the murder indictment on the ground that the Commonwealth recklessly or negligently delayed indicting him for thirty-two years, as Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by the preindictment delay; (3) Defendant was not entitled to relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E; and (4) the single justice did not abuse his discretion in denying Defendant’s motion to stay execution of sentence.
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