Commonwealth v. Gordon

At issue is the power and authority of a trial judge to accept, over the Commonwealth’s objection, a plea to murder in the second degree from a defendant indicted for murder in the first degree. In this case, the plea was accepted over objection and in the face of sufficient evidence to warrant submitting the matter to the jury on the charge of murder in the first degree. The Commonwealth asserts that the judge’s exercise of such power violates art. 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.1 We agree. We also reject *499the defendant’s claim that constitutional principles preclude the…