Commonwealth v. Denis

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on all three theories (deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder), two counts of armed assault with intent to rob, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied without an evidentiary hearing by a judge who was not the trial judge.1 On appeal from the convictions and from the denial of his motion for a new trial, the defendant asserts that the jury instructions were erroneous; that trial counsel was ineffective in various respects, and that the motion judge erred…