Commonwealth v. Brookins

The defendant appealed to the Appeals Court from his convictions of assault by means of a dangerous weapon and unlawfully carrying a firearm. He also appealed from the denial of his motion for a new trial of both indictments. The Appeals Court reversed the convictions and set aside the verdicts after concluding, on the basis of affidavits, that, in support of his motion for a new trial based on a key witness’s failure to appear, the defendant had “made an adequate factual showing” that he had been deprived of “effective assistance of counsel and the right to compulsory process in his behalf.”…