Commonwealth v. Kater

In this appeal by the defendant from his convictions of murder in the first degree and kidnapping, we consider the admissibility of testimony from witnesses who have been hypnotized. Aspects of this issue were before us in Commonwealth v. A Juvenile, 381 Mass. 727 (1980). In our opinion in A Juvenile, we declined to take an authoritative position because of the absence of findings of facts on possibly important matters. Id. at 729. We did, however, indicate considerations that might be material in resolving the issue. In this case and in the case of Commonwealth v. Watson, post 536 (1983),…