Gutierrez v. Commonwealth

Opinion of the Court by

Justice KELLER.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant, Ismael Gutierrez, was convicted of Murder, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, First-Degree Burglary, Tampering with Physical Evidence, and Violation of a Domestic Violence Order (DVO), and he was sentenced to sixty years in prison. He claims that the trial court erred in its decision to allow the Commonwealth to use the violation of the DVO as a substantive charge and as an aggravating circumstance in the Murder charge. Because the validity of the DVO was not subject to challenge in this case, the trial court did not commit…