Commonwealth v. Hampton

Following an order of remand, 1 a judge of the Superior Court held an evidentiary hearing on the defendant’s motion for a new trial on the ground of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The defendant had been convicted of assaulting a correction officer. See G. L. c. 127, § 38B. His defense at trial was that the correction officer used excessive force and was the first aggressor. At issue in the motion and on appeal is whether counsel was ineffective in failing to interview a fellow inmate who claimed that he had observed a portion of the altercation, and that the defendant had not been…