Commonwealth v. Davila

The defendant, Ivan Davila, appeals from his conviction by a Superior Court jury of unlawful possession of a class A substance, heroin, with intent to distribute.2 On appeal, he contends that the judge abused his discretion in allowing evidence of prior bad acts to be admitted, specifically acts tending to show that he distributed heroin just prior to his arrest. He argues that he was prejudiced by statements made by the prosecutor and the judge characterizing these prior bad acts as drug distribution. He also claims that the judge's final instructions failed to limit the jury's consideration…