Commonwealth v. Sheffield

Sheffield, after waiver of indictments, was tried in the Superior Court for rape, sodomy, kidnapping, and assault by means of a dangerous weapon on complaints originally issued by a District Court. At a first trial (which began on October 29, 1979) before a Superior Court judge and a jury, a mistrial was declared upon motion of defense trial counsel because the judge thought that the prosecutor was violating the principle declared in Commonwealth v. Soares, 377 Mass. 461, 491-492, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 881 (1979) , by inappropriate use of peremptory challenges. At a second trial before a…