Defense says judge wrongly barred medical records in Sanders appeal; justices probe 'evil' rhetoric in closing

The Supreme Judicial Court heard argument in Commonwealth v. Latarsha L. Sanders as defense attorney Robert Shaw told the justices that the trial judge's "wholesale exclusion" of medical records and related testimony was a clear error that deprived Sanders of evidence central to the question of her criminal responsibility.

Shaw said defense counsel had repeatedly sought admission of the records across seven volumes of the trial and in opening statement and that judicial rulings limiting the records prevented the jury from seeing the clinical foundation for the defense expert's conclusion that Sanders suffered from a psychotic disorder. "The prejudice here is enormous," Shaw told the court, noting that the excluded records supported severe mental‑illness findings and formed the "heart of the defense" on the issue of criminal responsibility.

The justices pressed Shaw on the prejudice standard and on portions of the pretrial record where defense counsel appeared to hedge about which records he wanted admitted. "As I read through the record ... there seems to be at least some waffling by trial counsel as to the need for…