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SJC hears appeals in linked highway-shooting convictions as defenses challenge evidence, jury instructions and 'extreme atrocity' findings
Summary
At oral argument the Supreme Judicial Court heard consolidated appeals by Isaiah Fraticelli, Keith Cotto and Luis Cotto, with defense lawyers saying evidence does not show each defendant was a shooter, that jury instructions misstated intent, and that 'extreme atrocity' findings warrant reduction or 33E review; the Commonwealth defended the verdicts citing video, ballistics and injuries.
The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in three consolidated appeals stemming from a November 2019 highway shooting that killed Gabriel Irizarry.
Attorney Dana Curhan, who represents Isaiah Fraticelli, told the court there were three guns and four people in the Honda Accord that opened fire into a Ford F-150. “There were three guns in the car and there were four people in the car,” Curhan said, adding there is no direct evidence Fraticelli — who was seated in the front passenger seat — possessed or fired a weapon. Curhan noted that one firearm recovered from the front passenger seat had Victor Espinosa’s DNA and a different gun recovered in the woods bore Keith Cotto’s DNA. He urged the justices to reconsider the trial court’s finding of extreme atrocity and cruelty, saying that designation — and the court decisions that followed Mattis — substantially lengthen parole-ineligibility periods for his client.
“Because of the extreme atrocity conviction, he’s not…
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