Commonwealth v. Soares

On July 15, 1980, a Barnstable County grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendant with conspiring, between August 1, 1979, and January 17,1980, to distribute unlawfully a Class B controlled substance, methamphetamine, in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 40. Named as coconspirators were Tracey L. Ellis, a Massachusetts resident, and Wade A. Richter, Russell Wathey, and Carol Wathey, all of California. The defendant was convicted after a three-day jury trial. He appealed and we transferred the case to this court on our own motion. See G. L. c. 211A, § 10 (A).

The issues raised are…