Commonwealth v. Shepherd

O’BRIEN, Justice:

Appellant, William Shepherd, was convicted by a jury of murder of the first degree and possession of instruments of crime. Post-verdict motions were denied and appellant was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment on the murder charge and a prison term of one to five years on the count charging possession of instruments of crime. This appeal followed.

Appellant first argues that the testimony of a Commonwealth witness gave rise to an impermissible reference to prior criminality, and that his subsequent motion for mistrial was improperly denied. The applicable standard is, by…