Smith v. Commonwealth

After having been convicted of various drug offenses in a jury-waived session of the Chelsea Division of the District Court Department1 in July, 1993, Dennis Smith, whom we shall call the defendant, exercised his then-existing right to a de nova trial before a jury of six.2 Pursuant to an *292order of the Chief Justice of the District Court Department, the defendant’s pending case was transferred to the so-called northern trial session of the District Court, held in Cambridge (Middlesex County). The defendant moved for a change of venue back to Suffolk County. A judge of the District Court denied…