Commonwealth v. Doucette

Two important prosecution witnesses had histories of mental illness which made it advisable to conduct voir dire inquiries into the testimonial competence of each. Over objection, the judge refused to allow Doucette’s counsel to put questions to the proposed witnesses. That refusal, the defendant argues on appeal, was an abuse of discretion which deprived the defendant of the rights of confrontation and due process.

The crime of which the defendant was convicted was attempted extortion. On the basis of the evidence most favorable to the Commonwealth, the jury could have found that in May,…