Commonwealth v. Gallarelli

After a jury trial in October, 1984, the defendant was convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, a knife. He was sentenced to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole (now Cedar Junction) for a term of eight to ten years. He appeals both his conviction and the denial of his motion for postconviction relief. In the view we take of the case, we need consider only the appeal from the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial.

The record reveals the following facts. At midnight on Friday, December 10, 1982, Stephen W. Travis and three of his friends were…