Commonwealth v. Morales

A jury convicted the defendant of murder in the first degree on grounds of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. On appeal, the defendant’s primary claim is that the trial judge erred by declining to order a change of venue and that therefore he was denied his right to a jury of a fair and representative cross section of the community. The defendant further alleges a denial of his right to a fair trial due to witness intimidation, the publication of a photograph of the jurors, the behavior of a distracting juror, and the admission of *538a statement that the defendant…