Commonwealth v. Deodat

After a jury trial, the defendant, Hemchand Deodat, was convicted of the following: assault by means of a dangerous weapon (knife); assault and battery on a household member; and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (ABDW), to wit a baseball bat.2 On appeal, the defendant claims error from evidentiary rulings by the judge, namely the admission of opinion evidence as to the commonality of domestic violence victims delaying reporting abuse. The defendant also challenges certain remarks by the prosecutor in her closing. We affirm.

1. Background. We summarize the facts that the jury…