Commonwealth v. North

Awaiting trial on twenty-two indictments for larceny by false pretenses, the defendant fled to Canada in September, 1994. Located in June of 1996 in Montreal, and living under an alias, the defendant was taken into custody. After trial, a jury returned a verdict of guilty upon all but one indictment.1 On appeal, the defendant’s principal contentions are that (1) trial counsel’s performance was so deficient as to amount to a constitutional deprivation of counsel; and (2) the convictions and sentences upon twenty-one separate indictments violated the double jeopardy provisions of the Federal…