Commonwealth v. Gilday

In 1972, the defendant, William M. Gilday, Jr., was convicted by a jury on an indictment charging murder in the first degree of a Boston police officer, and on two indictments for armed robbery. He received concurrent life sentences for the armed robbery convictions and a death sentence for the murder conviction, which was later reduced to life imprisonment in light of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). See Commonwealth v. Gilday, 367 Mass. 474 (1975) (Gilday I). After two unsuccessful motions for new trial following his conviction, the defendant filed a third mo tion for new trial pro…