Commonwealth v. Roman

The Commonwealth appealed to the Appeals Court from the postverdict order of the trial judge allowing the defendant’s motion for a required finding of not guilty of his conviction by a jury of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The victim was a seventeen month old child, the son of the defendant’s then girl friend, who suffered serious burns while in the defendant’s exclusive care. The defendant had told the police that the child *1007had been scalded by overheated water in the shower.1 The Commonwealth tried the case on the theory that the bums could not have been caused by the…