Commonwealth v. Williams

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court vacated Renardo Williams's first‑degree murder and assault‑with‑attempt‑to‑kill convictions and also set aside his firearms convictions, remanding for a new trial. The court held that the trial judge erred in excluding the surviving victim’s out‑of‑court statements, which were relevant under the doctrine of verbal completeness and necessary to the defendant’s self‑defense claim. The decision was based on the relevance of the statements and the prejudice resulting from their exclusion.