Commonwealth v. Vardinski

A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of armed robbery, G. L. c. 265, § 17, and stealing by confining, G. L. c. 265, § 21. He was sentenced to a term of from nine to twelve years in a State prison on the first indictment and three years’ probation on the second indictment. No physical evidence linked the defendant to the crime; the verdicts were based on the victim’s identification of the defendant from a photographic array compiled by the police. The defendant appealed from his convictions and the denial of his motion for a new trial, arguing in part that he had been unfairly denied…