Commonwealth v. Rodriguez

On December 12, 1978, two undercover Massachusetts State troopers, trailed by two Worcester police officers as backup, climbed the back stairs of a triple-decker to the apartment of the defendant, Diego Rodriguez, in order to execute a search warrant issued as a result of a prior sale of heroin to one of the undercover troopers. The facts with respect to the ensuing shootout are in dispute, but it is agreed that both troopers and the defendant received bullet wounds.

In early January, 1979, a Worcester County grand jury returned eight indictments, summarized in the margin. On February 21 and…