Court Opinion

ID: 9745054
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:31:17.914024+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:55.243683
License: Public Domain

Nolan, J.
I dissent. The defendant has not demonstrated here the slightest prejudice. He did not request the judge to give the jury an appropriate instruction. The assistant district attorney made no mention of the defendant’s failure to call the witnesses whom he identified. The majority concede that there was no violation of a Federal or State constitutional right. Admittedly, for the future, the better practice calls for a reading of the names of the prospective witnesses without identifying the party who may call them.
There was no error in the motion judge’s denial of the defendant’s request for “extra fees and costs” (G. L. c. 261, § 27C, as appearing in St. 1978, c. 478, § 269) because there has been no showing that the interpretation of the test results was “reasonably necessary to prevent the party from being subjected to a disadvantage in preparing or presenting his case adequately.” Commonwealth v. Lockley, 381 Mass. 156, 160-161 (1980).
The Commonwealth’s case was strong, consisting, in part, of testimony of an eyewitness and cogent circumstantial evidence. A verdict based on this evidence should be left undisturbed unless there is a compelling reason to reverse. No such reason has surfaced in this case.