Commonwealth v. Newell

A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of armed robbery and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial judge committed error by (1) allowing in evidence the victim’s hearsay statement pursuant to the spontaneous utterance exception, (2) denying the defendant’s motion for a required finding of not guilty, and (3) failing to instruct properly the jury in regard to circumstantial evidence. The defendant also contends that the prosecutor made improper remarks in his closing argument. Finally, the defendant claims that he did not…