Commonwealth v. Grace

Before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit the defendants claimed that this court, in Commonwealth v. Grace, 376 Mass. 499 (1978), “violated the fourteenth amendment by failing to apply in appellants’ case the same rules that were announced in a later case claimed to be essentially indistinguishable,” Commonwealth v. Garcia, 379 Mass. 422 (1980). See Grace v. Butterworth, No. 79-1422, Memorandum and Order (1st Cir., July 23, 1980). At the suggestion of the Federal court, the defendants now present that claim to us by a petition for reconsideration. Upon full consideration…