Commonwealth v. Gray, 463 Mass. 731

Murder in the first degree with premeditation and two firearms offenses; hooded shooter on Humboldt Ave, Roxbury, victim Herman Taylor; no reliable forensics or weapon found; video showed hooded figure arrive in white Nissan Maxima with missing hubcap.
Jamison identified shooter prior to trial; his grand jury testimony differed from trial identification but was not admitted; Williams, Garvin, Canty testified inconsistently.
Commonwealth framed the case around Heath Street vs. H-Block gang feud; evidence of gangs and membership admitted to show motive.
Identification at trial relied on Williams’s in-court identification aided by Jamison’s prior statement; Jamison was unavailable at trial.
Judge permitted some gang-evidence and a rap video to be shown; substantial identification testimony and photos were admitted over defense objections.
Trial court reversed convictions and ordered a new trial due to prejudicial and improper identification evidence and rap-video admission.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Impeachment using Jamison’s grand jury testimony	Jamison’s grand jury testimony could be used for impeachment	Jamison’s grand jury testimony should be admissible to impeach the identification	Error to exclude impeachment; new trial required
Admissibility of Garvin’s photographs and statements	Photographs and statements admissible under 801(d)(1)(c) to prove identification	Photographs and statements were prejudicial and not probative	Prejudicial error; should not have been admitted
Rap video admission as gang-evidence	Video shows defendant’s gang affiliation; admissible to show motive	Video is irrelevant or prejudicial, and lacks proper foundation	Admitting rap video was prejudicial error; new trial warranted
Overall impact on fair trial from identification evidence	Identification evidence was central and improperly admitted	Errors were harmless cumulatively	Cumulative errors deprived defendant of fair trial; new trial required

Commonwealth v. Mahar, 430 Mass. 643 (Mass. 2000) (impeachment of hearsay declarations; confrontation concerns)
Commonwealth v. Jewett, 392 Mass. 558 (Mass. 1984) (cross-examining identification witnesses; due process concerns)
Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (U.S. 1973) (convicted on excluded testimony; right to defense via cross-examination)
United States v. Owens, 484 U.S. 554 (U.S. 1988) (confrontation rights; impeachment of identification testimony)
Commonwealth v. Le, 444 Mass. 431 (Mass. 2005) (limits on admission of grand jury testimony as substantive evidence)
Commonwealth v. Bohannon, 376 Mass. 90 (Mass. 1978) (limits on admission of evidence; due process concerns)