SJC hears challenge to long-delayed appeal in Raymond J. White case

BOSTON — The Supreme Judicial Court heard argument on whether Raymond J. White, convicted in 1972 of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, may obtain the benefit of changes in the law after a period in which he lacked a direct appeal.

Defense counsel Catherine Neaves told the court that Mr. White "was convicted of 2 counts of first degree murder more than 53 years ago in 1972 and was sentenced to death" and that successive lawyers failed to perfect his direct appeal, leaving him entitled, she argued, to review under modern standards. Neaves urged the court to exercise its discretion and grant a new trial, stressing Mr. White's advanced age (76, turning 77) and the decades-long procedural lapses.

The core dispute presented was procedural and substantive. The defense argued that because the failure to secure a direct appeal was the product of counsel neglect rather than any deliberate delay by the defendant,…