Commonwealth v. Ramos

Our principal concern in considering the defendant’s appeal is whether the circumstances of the crime for which he was charged were so likely to release the venom of racial prejudice that the trial judge ought to have examined prospective jurors individually about racial bias, as requested by defense counsel. See G. L. c. 234, § 28; Mass.R.Crim.P. 20(b)(2), 378 Mass. 890 (1979). We conclude that the background against which the offense was committed did not so obviously produce a racially charged atmosphere as to require an individual voir dire and we affirm the judgment. We shall comment on…