Commonwealth v. Melendez
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and denied his motion for a new trial, holding that there existed no grounds for reversal and that there was no reason to exercise the Court's authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 33E to grant a new trial or to reduce the verdict.
Defendant's first two trials ended in mistrials. At his third trial, the jury found Defendant guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder conviction. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress certain evidence, but no substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice occurred; (2) the trial judge did not err in his evidentiary rulings; and (3) the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions.
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