Commonwealth v. Bly

The defendant was convicted of the deliberately premeditated murder of Lee Simmons on September 13, 1993, illegally carrying a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition. He was acquitted of a charge of assaulting Keith Richards with intent to murder. On appeal he argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because (1) counsel failed to file a motion to exclude his prior conviction of murder and the prior murder conviction of Damien Bonilla, a key defense witness, used to impeach them pursuant to G. L. c. 233, § 21, and (2) counsel failed to object to the prosecutor’s…