Commonwealth v. Lavoie

We granted the Commonwealth’s application for further appellate review to consider whether a Superior Court judge properly denied the defendant’s motion for a new trial, in which he claimed that his right to a public trial was violated when his counsel failed to object to the exclusion of family members from the court room during jury selection. The Appeals Court concluded that the defendant’s right to a public trial was violated, reversed the denial of the defendant’s motion, and vacated the judgment. Commonwealth v. Lavoie, 80 Mass. App. Ct. 546, 547 (2011). Because we conclude that counsel…