Commonwealth v. Gaynor

Following a jury trial, the defendant was convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 15A, for the near-fatal stabbing of Don Anderson, the former boyfriend of the defendant’s then girlfriend and the father of her child.1 The defendant’s primary *72argument on appeal is that the trial judge erred in denying his pretrial motion to admit evidence of the victim’s prior violent acts, pursuant to Commonwealth v. Adjutant, 443 Mass. 649 (2005). We affirm, concluding that the Adjutant rule is not applicable on the facts of this case, and that,…