Commonwealth v. Field

In August, 2010, the victim, Lorraine Wachsman, was stabbed to death. A jury in the Superior Court found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The defendant appeals from her conviction and from the denial of her motion for a new trial.

The defendant asserts several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, centering on trial counsel’s failure to consult with a mental health expert regarding (1) a defense of mental impairment, including impeaching the Commonwealth’s mental health expert; (2) the suppression…