457 Mass. 530
Search and Seizure, Search Warrant Conflict of Laws, Expert Witness, Prior Convictions
The defendant was found guilty of first degree murder under theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty, as well as larceny of a motor vehicle. The defendant appealed his convictions claiming: 1) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to file a motion to suppress evidence gained from buccal and genital swabs taken from the defendant pursuant to a Maryland search warrant, 2) Expert testimony was hearsay and inadmissible, and 3) that the judge erred by allowing the prosecutor to use evidence of the defendant’s prior criminal convictions to show a propensity to commit crime. The SJC affirmed the defendant’s conviction and declined to reduce the degree of guilt.
