Commonwealth v. Dosouto

After a joint jury trial in the Superior Court the defendant was convicted of a single count of armed robbery. On appeal the defendant argues that the trial judge (1) erred in denying his motion to sever the trial from that of his codefend-ant, Paulino Barros;1 (2) improperly admitted prior bad act evidence; (3) wrongly denied his motion for a required finding of not guilty; and (4) failed to give an instruction that the Commonwealth must prove the defendant knew one of his companions was armed with a dangerous weapon.

We briefly summarize the evidence adduced at trial, reserving certain…