Commonwealth v. Ryles

The defendant, who was convicted in the Superior Court of armed robbery and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, was sentenced to prison for two concurrent terms. He appeals under G. L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G, from the trial judge’s denial of his request that the prospective jurors should be asked questions designed to discover possible racial prejudice.

The defendant excepted to the judge’s refusal to ask the veniremen if they were racially prejudiced but he failed to assign it as error. In view of the fact that Ham v. South Carolina, 409 U. S. 524, which established the…