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Appeals court considers whether extensive 'bad‑act' testimony and prosecutor rhetoric tainted bench trial in Commonwealth v. Yazcek
Summary
The panel reviewed arguments that a bench trial conviction should be overturned because prosecutors introduced extensive testimony about the defendant's temper and used inflammatory closing rhetoric that, defense counsel said, made a fair trial impossible even before a judge.
Counsel for Steven Yazcek argued the trial was infected by an excessive amount of so‑called bad‑act evidence and by a closing argument that repeatedly characterized the defendant as a “predator.” Defense counsel told the Appeals Court that eight witnesses testified to similar temper‑related conduct, and that the cumulative effect of that testimony plus prosecutorial invective skewed the trial judge’s…
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