Commonwealth v. Ross

This case is here pursuant to an order entered by the United States Supreme Court 1 granting the defendant’s petition for certiorari, vacating the judgment affirming his conviction (Commonwealth v. Ross, 361 Mass. 665) and remanding the case to us for further consideration in the light of Ham v. South Carolina, 409 U. S. 524. Thus, the only issue we must decide is whether the Ham decision requires that the defendant’s conviction should be reversed on the ground that the trial judge refused to ask the veniremen whether they were racially prejudiced.

In the Ham case, the defendant’s conviction…