Commonwealth v. Johnson

Following a jury trial in the Superior Court, the defendant, Kevin Johnson, was convicted of trafficking in cocaine with a net weight of twenty-eight grams or more and less than one hundred grams, refusal to submit to a police officer, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. He appeals only from the trafficking conviction, contending that (1) the admission in evidence of a drug certificate of analysis, without live testimony by the chemist, requires reversal of his conviction on the drug charge, see Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S. Ct. 2527 (2009); and (2) the Commonwealth’s…