Commonwealth v. Mezzanotti

A jury in the Superior Court convicted the defendant of burning of a dwelling house (arson). G. L. c. 266, § 1. Represented by new counsel on appeal, the defendant argues that (1) his motion for a required finding of not guilty should have been allowed, (2) the judge’s instructions to the jury on malice and joint venture created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice, and (3) the denial of his counsel’s request to cross-examine Esther Ortiz, the codefendant, who was also convicted of arson, considered together with part of the prosecutor’s closing argument, abridged his constitutional…