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Appeals court hears challenge to conviction based on surveillance ID, prosecutor’s closing statements
Summary
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard argument in Commonwealth v. Gonzales over whether surveillance images and prosecutorial misstatements rendered the conviction unsafe and whether a purse-snatching charged as unarmed robbery required proof of force under state law.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard oral argument Feb. 13 in Commonwealth v. Gonzales, a criminal appeal in which defense counsel argued the conviction rests on thin evidence and prejudicial misstatements in the prosecutor’s closing argument. Elaine Fraunhofer, counsel for appellant Angel Gonzales, told the three-justice panel that the prosecutor repeatedly overstated the evidence, including statements that a cooperating witness had “corroborated” Gonzales for all four purse-snatching incidents and that there was “no evidence” the crimes continued after the defendant’s arrest.
The argument centered first on identity. Fraunhofer asked the court to review surveillance stills and photographs de novo and to conclude the Commonwealth’s evidence did not prove identity beyond a reasonable…
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