Commonwealth v. Gagnon

Highly competent police work resulted in the arrest and conviction of the defendants of armed robbery while masked of an employee of a bank,2 armed assault with intent to murder,3 attempted murder,4 assault and battery on a police officer,5 and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.6 Regrettably, the trial was sufficiently tainted with error to require reversal of the judgments and a new trial.

We sketch an outline of facts which the jury could have found, leaving details to discussion of the particular points on appeal to which they are relevant. On June 10, 1977, shortly after…