Commonwealth v. Nelson

The appeal is from the denial of the defendant’s amended alternative motion (originally filed in 1976) for leave to withdraw his 1956 guilty pleas to, or for a new trial on, so much of an indictment for murder as alleged murder in the second degree and a companion indictment for sodomy. The argument that the defendant lacked the ability to comprehend what he was doing when he tendered his pleas is based in large part on testimony which obviously left the motion judge unimpressed (compare Commonwealth v. Curry, 6 Mass. App. Ct. 928, 929 [1979]); it overlooks the fact that the defendant has…