Commonwealth v. Pelier

1. In the circumstances of this case, it was not reversible error for the judge to deny the defendant’s request to put to potential jurors questions designed to determine whether their judgment would be affected by racial or ethnic prejudice. Commonwealth v. Core, 370 Mass. 369, 375-376 (1976). See Commonwealth v. Pinckney, 365 Mass. 70, 73-74 (1974) (factually similar to the instant case). But see Commonwealth v. Core, supra at 376.

The defendant made no showing that he was a “special target for racial prejudice” (Commonwealth v. Ross, 363 Mass. 665, 672, cert, denied, 414 U.S. 1080 [1973]…