Commonwealth v. Bonner
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty and a firearm offense, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings below.
At trial against four codefendants, the Commonwealth proceeded on a theory that Defendant was liable for the victim's death in this case as an accomplice. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge against Defendant but convicted him of a firearm offense and of resisting arrest. After a subsequent joint trial, a second jury convicted Defendant of murder. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to sustain the murder conviction and the firearm conviction; (2) the judge did not err in its instructions on accomplice liability; (3) in the second trial, there was no substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice in the judge's decision precluding Defendant from contesting the sufficiency of the evidence as to his firearm conviction on estoppel grounds; and (4) this Court declines to exercise its authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to grant Defendant a new trial or reduce the conviction to a lesser degree of guilt.
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