Commonwealth v. Wood, 469 Mass. 266

In Feb. 2004 Betsy Tripp was murdered in her Dorchester condo; Morris Thompson was injured but survived and identified Wood and Butler as perpetrators.
The pair allegedly robbed Tripp and Thompson, tied them with a telephone cord, and Tripp was killed by a knife wound to the throat; Thompson was shot in the head.
Wood and Butler were tried together; four trials occurred, with convictions based on multiple theories including felony-murder and extreme atrocity or cruelty.
The defense challenged third-party culprit evidence, Bowden claims, hearsay, and the police investigation’s adequacy; the Commonwealth argued witnesses and evidence supported the verdict.
A fourth trial resulted in Wood’s first-degree murder conviction (felony-murder and extreme atrocity/cruelty) and Butler’s second-degree murder conviction; two armed-robbery convictions were reinstated on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether third-party culprit evidence was properly admitted	Wood argues third-party Thompson evidence was probative and properly connected	Wood asserts lack of substantial links and bias against defense	No reversible error; evidence excluded as insufficiently connected to killer
Whether Bowden defense evidence was properly handled	DaSilva/ Bowden theory supported police investigation flaws	Bowden rebuttal evidence improperly admitted	Properly limited; evidence excluded for lack of linkage and potential prejudice
Whether a juror sleeping during trial affected fairness	No substantial prejudice; voir dire found juror alert	Sleeping juror undermined impartiality	No reversible error; judge acted within discretion
Whether admission of substitute medical examiner testimony violated confrontation rights	Evans could interpret autopsy findings to support guilt	Fatal autopsy facts improperly admitted by substitute examiner	Harmless error; cumulative and non-prejudicial given other evidence
Whether prosecutorial reference to victim’s presumed relationship required mistrial	Closing argument misstated facts about Thompson’s love for Tripp	No reversible error due to curative instruction and context	Not reversible error; curative instruction adequate and impact minimal

Commonwealth v. Buckman, 461 Mass. 24 (Mass. 2011) (limits on third-party culprit evidence; substantial links required)
Commonwealth v. Silva-Santiago, 453 Mass. 782 (Mass. 2009) (test for admissibility of third-party culprit evidence; need substantial probative value)
Commonwealth v. Borans, 379 Mass. 117 (Mass. 1979) (joint venture hearsay admissibility without pretrial showing of JV existence)
Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz, 408 Mass. 533 (Mass. 1990) (limits on admission of out-of-court statements in Bowden defense context)
Commonwealth v. Clarke, 418 Mass. 207 (Mass. 1994) (joint venture statements admissible if proven later; no preliminary JV finding required)