Commonwealth v. Marrero

On the evening of February 17, 2005, Jose Costoso was murdered in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant in Springfield. He was beaten by a group of men and shot twice at *236close range. The defendant, Jose M. Marrero, was subsequently indicted for the murder and, after a jury trial, was found guilty of premeditated murder in the first degree.1 The defendant appealed from the conviction, as well as from the judge’s denial of his motion for a new trial (and for an evidentiary hearing) that was based on the defendant’s allegation that his attorney never informed him of his right to testify on his…