Commonwealth v. Foster

The defendant appeals from the finding of a Boston Municipal Court judge that he violated the terms of his probation by committing a new crime. He argues that the judge should have recused himself from hearing the case because he had earlier sentenced a defense witness; that a police report was wrongly admitted as “totem pole hearsay”; and that the hearing was improperly continued over his objection. We affirm.

Background. Antwon Foster was convicted of assault and battery in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department and placed on probation for two years. Later, in the same…