Commonwealth v. James

In the defendant’s jury-of-six trial in Boston Municipal Court on a complaint charging distribution of cocaine, G. L. c. 94C, § 32A, and doing so within 1,000 feet of a school, G. L. c. 94C, § 32J, “[the judge] gave no-instruction whatsoever on the meaning of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Stellberger, 25 Mass. App. Ct. 148, 149 (1987). Despite the Commonwealth’s argument that this court should abandon the holding in Stellberger, supra at 149-150, in which we reversed Stellberger’s conviction for lack of a reasonable doubt instruction, the role of this court is not to make…