Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Well, it had to end sometime.
Boston’s Dwayne Moore has been found guilty of various murder charges stemming back to the so-called “Mattapan Massacre” back in September, 2010. This was the case where Mr. Moore was accused of being a part of a drug-related robbery which ended up being a blood bath. Four murder charges to be exact. he was also convicted of some other charges, as well as acquitted of a few others, but when you are looking at four life sentences without parole, those tend to dim by comparison.
At least one of those acquittals, though, are interesting fodder for us to discuss. However, we will get to that in a moment.
Mr. Moore was found guilty on Monday and sentenced on Tuesday.
Victims said this does not heal their broken hearts.. “September 28, 2010. That was the day my life changed forever,” said Ebony Flonory, whose sister and nephew were murdered. “At least we’ll have a little peace and to know that the people who did this will pay for it,” said Patricia Washum, whose friend was murdered.
Meanwhile, not all of the human drama was on the Commonwealth’s side. For example, courthouse officers had to drag away Moore’s mother, outside the sentencing, who was apparently upset when a photographer took her picture.
Defense attorneys vowed to appeal and claimed that the prosecutors got the wrong man convicted. They further recharge that the state’s star witness, Kimani Washington, got away with murder. During trial, defense counsel described Washington as a “snake oil salesman” who himself committed the crimes. Washington admitted participating in the robbery, but said he left before the shootings.
Of course, Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Seems satisfied with his decision.
“Washington was a participant in this robbery and he is going to pay a very heavy price for that,” he said. In fact, Washington is to serve 16 to 18 years.
In an unfortunate comparison by the judge, which reminds us that timing is everything, His Honor drew a parallel between the victims in Newtown, Conneticuit and the youngest victim in Mattapan, saying the 2-year-old boy was just as innocent, his death just as tragic.
Attorney Sam’s Take On Problematic Criminal Cases And Appeals
In any criminal case, when the verdict is guilty, unusual occurrences that occur trial will likely lead to appeal issues. Certain issues come to mind automatically. On the other hand, some seem to have already taken care of themselves.
Let’s tackle one of the issues which have taken care of itself. This would be the issue I discussed with you weeks ago. The testimony of the sole survivor of the shootings. This is the witness who testified at the first hearing that he could not identify the shooter. Then, the Commonwealth announced , after the first trial, that he now could identify the shooter. The Commonwealth even fought it out at a hearing to be able to put this new revelation into evidence at the second trial. At the second trial, however, the prosecutor made the strategic decision not to present this new testimony. Clearly, the defense was not going to bring it in, so the changed testimony was never presented.
Surely, given all that maneuvering, you might think that the defense could make some appealable issue out of that witness.
That might prove a bit more difficult now…as the jury did not convict Moore of that shooting.
Of course an argument can always be made that it all served to taint the jury because of the media coverage the prior hearing received…but, now, that is more difficult as they did not seem to credit the witness with the revelations which never came out in trial.
What are some of the issues you might expect on appeal?
Stay tuned for my next blog.
To view the original story upon which this blog is based, please go yo http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12009353879536/dwayne-moore-faces-sentencing-in-quadruple-slaying/#ixzz2FW7LVA6E
