Commonwealth v. Scott Morrison

Summary

The Supreme Judicial Court held that Massachusetts’ aggravated kidnapping statute requires the dangerous weapon with which a defendant is armed to be the instrument used to inflict the serious bodily injury, and that the trial court’s jury instruction allowing the two elements to be proved independently was erroneous and prejudicial, requiring vacatur of the aggravated kidnapping conviction. The court also affirmed the sufficiency of the evidence under the proper construction and remanded for further proceedings.