Commonwealth v. Saunders

Based on a robbery that occurred on January 24, 1996, a jury in the Superior Court convicted the defendant of unarmed robbery, unarmed assault with intent to rob, and assault and battery (two indictments). In Commonwealth v. Saunders, 50 Mass. App. Ct. 865, 873 (2001), the Appeals Court *692reversed the defendant’s convictions and ordered a new trial on the ground that the trial judge erred in permitting the Commonwealth to use a prior conviction, for which the Commonwealth did not establish that the defendant had or waived counsel, see Commonwealth v. Cook, 371 Mass. 832, 833 (1977);…