Court orders new trial for man convicted of killing drug-dealer enforcer

The Supreme Judicial Court today threw out the first-degree murder conviction of a man charged with firing massive numbers of bullets into two drug dealers and their muscle, leaving one dead.

The court ruled that John Baciagalupo's right to confront his accusers was violated because a witness testified about what he and a second man charged with the shootings did on Nov. 24. 1996:

McConnell, the witness whose testimony was crucial to the defendant's convictions in regard to the Revere shootings, was a convicted felon testifying pursuant to a proffer agreement with the Commonwealth. He did not name his assailants to the government until, four years after the shootings, he was in jeopardy of being charged with serious offenses. Thus, the introduction of an inadmissible confession by a codefendant, naming a "friend" as participating in the shootings, buttressed the testimony of McConnell (testimony that the jury may otherwise have rejected). Identification of one of the shooters of Nogueira as "Johnny" significantly added to the Commonwealth's case against the defendant for Nogueira's murder. Accordingly, we conclude that the error "had, or might have had," an effect on the jury; the evidence of Carter's statement implicated the defendant in each of the shootings and requires reversal of all his convictions.

Complete decision.