Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Martinez
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided January 19, 2011No. SJC-10473PublishedCited by 20 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtBotsford, J.
In January of 2007, a Suffolk County jury found the defendant, Melvin Martinez, guilty of the aggravated rape of Monica Mejia and of her murder on a theory of felony-murder. 2 On appeal, the defendant claims error in the admission of his statement to the police and the repeated mention of his nickname, “Pinocchio,” at trial. He also argues that the credibility of a key prosecution witness who testified pursuant to a plea agreement was enhanced improperly by the prosecutor’s references to the witness’s obligation to testify truthfully, and that the jury were impermissibly biased by seeing,…
2Cases cited39 opinions
- Sims v. GeorgiaSupreme Court of the United States · 1967
- Commonwealth v. FlebotteMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1994
- Commonwealth v. TavaresMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1982
- Commonwealth v. MahnkeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1975
- Commonwealth v. GrandisonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2001
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3Cited by20 opinions
- Commonwealth v. TranMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2011
- Commonwealth v. DyerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2011
- Commonwealth v. MoralesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2012
- Commonwealth v. CawthronMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2018
- State v. FedorovCourt of Appeals of Washington · 2014
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