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Appeals court hears challenge to extensive prior-bad-act evidence in domestic-violence trial
Summary
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments over whether the trial judge erred by admitting multiple prior-bad-act evidence items against Mario Estefanos, with defense counsel saying the cumulative material was overwhelming and the prosecutor saying the evidence was probative of the relationship and delayed disclosure.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard oral argument in Commonwealth v. Estefanos (Docket 24P0899) on whether a trial judge abused discretion by admitting numerous prior-bad-act items in a domestic-violence prosecution.
Defense counsel Dana Kerhan told the three-judge panel that the Commonwealth and the trial court joined a “series of **** and domestic violence issues that occurred over the course of 5 years” and did not contest the joinder, but argued “that bad act evidence was so overwhelming that, a trial a fair trial was not possible in these circumstances.”
The question before the panel, the…
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