Commonwealth v. Diaz

A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant, Johnny Diaz, of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Represented by new counsel, the defendant appeals from his conviction and from the denial of his motion for a new trial. He claims that his statements during an audiotaped police interview were improperly admitted because his waiver of Miranda rights was not valid and because his replies to certain questions constituted a denial; the admission of questions in the police interview referring to unnamed “people” who identified the…