Commonwealth v. Santoli

We granted the defendant’s application for *838direct appellate review to consider his request that we change this court’s position on the admissibility of expert testimony concerning the capacity of eyewitnesses to make reliable identifications in particular circumstances.

In Commonwealth v. Francis, 390 Mass. 89, 98-101 (1983), this court held that, although expert testimony on the capacity of eyewitnesses to make identifications is not admissible as of right, such testimony is admissible in the trial judge’s discretion. We recently reaffirmed that principle in Commonwealth v. Hyatt, 419 Mass.…