Commonwealth v. Childs

This case comes to us after two trials and involves the admission of testimony given in the first trial by a witness whom the court declared “unavailable” in the second trial. After the defendant was found guilty of murder in the second degree, we reversed on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. In the second trial, the judge admitted the prior recorded testimony of the absent witness who had testified in the first trial. The second trial jury also returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. The defendant appeals, claiming that the judge erred when he declared the…