Commonwealth v. Riveiro

The defendant, Digno R. Riveiro, appeals from convictions entered March 28,1983, on two indictments charging murder in the first degree. The issues on appeal concern alleged errors in the trial judge’s refusal to conduct a voir dire examination in the absence of the jury on the admissibility of the defendant’s statement to a police officer and in the judge’s jury instructions. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the judge committed reversible error in connection with the voir dire examination and we order a new trial. Accordingly, we do not reach issues connected with the jury…