Commonwealth v. Urena

The defendant appeals from his conviction of unlawful distribution of cocaine. We transferred the case to this court on our own motion. The sole issue on appeal is whether the defendant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at his trial because his attorney did not object to the trial judge’s practice of allowing jurors to ask oral questions of witnesses testifying at trial. We affirm.

The defendant was indicted for trafficking in cocaine in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 32E (b) (2) (1992 ed.), and for unlawful distribution of cocaine in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 32A (c) (1992…