Commonwealth v. Smith

OPINION OF THE COURT

ROBERTS, Justice.

The Commonwealth seeks allowance of appeal from an order of the Superior Court granting respondent a new trial on burglary, robbery, kidnapping, and related charges. Respondent was found guilty of the charges by a court sitting without a jury. The Superior Court granted relief on the ground that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to a defective jury-trial-waiver colloquy.

Our Rules of Criminal Procedure require a trial judge to ascertain whether a defendant’s waiver of the right to trial by jury “is a knowing and intelligent…