Commonwealth v. James Souza

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant's first-degree murder conviction based on felony-murder, concluding that the trial judge properly admitted or, alternatively, harmlessly admitted the challenged evidence. The court held that the Y-STR evidence was relevant and sufficiently contextualized, that the substitute analyst could testify to computer-generated statistical results without presenting inadmissible hearsay, and that any error involving the compilation exhibit was nonprejudicial. The evidence was also sufficient for a rational jury to find that the defendant committed the armed robbery predicate offense, and the court found no basis for relief under its heightened review authority.