Commonwealth v. Perez

Found guilty after a bench trial of trafficking in cocaine, the defendant appeals from his conviction and from the denial of his motion for a new trial. These appeals concern a compelling description of the defendant — “an individual with a tattoo of a cross right in between his eyebrows.” The description came from an informant who was not present at trial. The defendant urges, and the Commonwealth denies, that the informant’s indirect statement was used substantively to identify the defendant as a person offering to sell cocaine. The defendant also claims that his motion for a required…