Commonwealth v. Fernandes

**2*700Until recently, we provided only limited guidance regarding legal instructions furnished to grand juries. We had held, for example, that "it is the duty of the district attorney in appropriate instances to advise [the grand jury] concerning the law," Attorney Gen. v. Pelletier, 240 Mass. 264, 307, 134 N.E. 407 (1922), and that an appropriate instance for such instructions is when the grand jury request them, Commonwealth v. Noble, 429 Mass. 44, 48, 707 N.E.2d 819 (1999). Then, in Commonwealth v. Walczak, 463 Mass. 808, 979 N.E.2d 732 (2012), we held that where the Commonwealth seeks to…