LeBlanc v. Duval

MEMORANDUM AND DECISION

GERTNER, District Judge:

I. INTRODUCTION

On March 23, 1976, a jury found petitioner Robert LeBlanc guilty of the first degree murder of Sgt. Richard F. Halloran of the Boston Police Department, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction. See Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, 373 Mass. 478, 367 N.E.2d 846 (1977).

On May 13, 1988, petitioner filed a pro se motion for a new trial in Superior Court, raising six claims of error. The Superior Court Judge refused to hear the first three claims on the ground that they were not raised at…