Commonwealth v. Goodreau

The issue before us is whether the motion judge should have conducted an evidentiary hearing before acting on the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and for a new trial. We conclude that, in the circumstances, such a hearing should have been held.

*553Procedural background. The defendant, Robert E. Goodreau, was indicted for murder in the first degree on June 10, 1991, in connection with the shooting death on May 19, 1991, of the twenty-two year old son of the defendant’s live-in girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree on February 24, 1992. Although assigned a…