Commonwealth v. Doherty

On August 7, 1979, this court affirmed the conviction of Stephen Doherty (defendant), John Campbell, Jr., and Arthur Keigney of the November 25, 1976, murder in the first degree of Robert A. Perrotta (victim) in his cell at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole. Commonwealth v. Campbell, 378 Mass. 680 (1979). After that date, but before the Supreme Court’s decision in Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307 (1985), the defendant on three occasions unsuccessfully sought postconviction relief by way of motions for a new trial and unsuccessfully sought habeas corpus relief in the…