Commonwealth v. Figueroa

A jury convicted the defendant, Juan A. Figueroa, Jr., of murder in the second degree in 2009, and the trial judge denied his motion for a reduction of the verdict under Mass.R.Crim.P. 25(b)(2), as amended, 420 Mass. 1502 (1995). In 2017, more than eight years after the denial of his first rule 25(b)(2) motion, the defendant filed a second rule 25(b)(2) motion, seeking a reduction of the verdict to manslaughter or a new trial. He contended, as before, that his conviction of murder in the second degree was not "consonant with justice," and, further, that appellate counsel's alleged…