Commonwealth v. Morrill

The defendant, Douglas Morrill, III, appeals from convictions of twice violating G. L. c. 272, § 35 (committing an unnatural and lascivious act with another person). He *813argues that the trial judge erred in denying his motion for a required finding of not guilty, claiming there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that the acts occurred in public. The defendant also asserts that the jury instructions were erroneous because (1) the judge improperly defined “public place,” and (2) the inclusion of the “moral certainty” component of the reasonable doubt instruction confused the jury and…