Commonwealth v. Brown

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Susan Brown, was found guilty of arson of a dwelling house and injury to a firefighter. On appeal, she argues that there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction of arson, that the trial judge improperly qualified one of the Commonwealth's witnesses as an expert, and that the prosecutor made improper remarks during closing argument. We affirm.

Background. We begin with a brief summary of the facts, reserving other relevant facts for the discussion of the issues.2 Brown was temporarily staying at her friend, Nancy Fitch's, apartment in Lynn. The…