Commonwealth v. Coyle

The defendants were convicted on indictments charging them with *983assault and battery (G. L. c. 265, § 13A) and unarmed robbery (G. L. c. 265, § 19[b]). The convictions of assault and battery were placed on file with the defendants’ consent. The principal issue raised on appeal concerns the denial of the defendants’ motions for required findings of not guilty on the robbery indictments.

The Commonwealth based its case on a joint enterprise theory. Under such a theory, the Commonwealth is required to “show that the defendant ‘intentionally assisted the principal in the commission of the crime and…