Commonwealth v. Costa

A District Court jury found the defendant guilty of conspiring to destroy property and the malicious destruction of property having a value of less than $250.1 Although the judge imposed a suspended sentence of one year on the substantive offense, he placed the defendant on probation on the conspiracy conviction. As a special condition of that probation, the judge ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $5,000. On appeal, the defendant confines himself to the conspiracy conviction and argues that the judge erred in denying his motion for a required finding of not guilty and…