Commonwealth v. Tolentino

The Beverly police obtained a complaint in the Salem Division of the District Court Department alleging that the defendant, Manlio Tolentino, an Hispanic man, had been in possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, see G. L. c. 94C, § 32A (1994 ed.), and that the offense was committed within 1,000 feet of a school, see G. L. c. 94C, § 32J (1992 ed.).1 After preliminaiy proceedings, the complaint was *516transferred to the Peabody District Court for trial before a jury of six. Before the trial, the defendant moved to dismiss the jury venire as failing to represent the ethnic composition of…