Commonwealth v. King

The defendant was convicted by a Superior Court jury of three counts of aggravated rape in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 22(a ). On appeal, the defendant maintains that telephonic text messages he sent to one of his codefendants2 were erroneously admitted, and that the judge erred when she gave a consciousness of guilt instruction regarding the contents of the text messages. We affirm.

Joint venture. On the evening of October 12, 2012, four young men, the defendant and his three codefendants, left Pittsfield to visit an acquaintance, J.D.,3 a freshman at the University of Massachusetts…