“If the defendant heard allegations by the Commonwealth which he considered false, we would expect that he would have tried to rebut them”
How later courts described this case
- “If the defendant heard allegations by the Commonwealth which he considered false, we would expect that he would have tried to rebut them”
- affidavits of police and security officers describing other criminal activity
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Brown, J.
(concurring). If there was error in the admission of the affidavits (see Commonwealth v. Franks, supra, and Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, supra), it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U. S. 18 (1967). The magnitude of the defendant’s alleged criminal activity was perfectly obvious from the evidence properly admitted at trial. Moreover, as the majority points out quite clearly, the defendant made no effort to rebut or contest the information contained in the affidavits.
And there is nothing in the record which even vaguely suggests that the judge acted vindictively or with a retaliatory motivation in imposing sentence, I agree that the judgments should be affirmed, albeit without enthusiasm.