Therefore, according to "forfeiture by wrongdoing," the defendant should lose the right to object to the hearsay. Such statements would typically be inadmissible as hearsay, but prosecutors contend that Easter either killed or played a role in the killing to prevent McKeon from testifying against him. In pretrial motions, prosecutors sought to introduce prior statements by the couple that incriminated Easter in the home invasion. Eighteen days before McKeon was due to testify against Easter, the couple were executed in their Forbes Street apartment. Instead, Easter told the jury that he was the one who was attacked, and he never reported the attack because he "feared retaliation."īut the jury won't hear from the only people who had every reason to fear retaliation in this troubling case: Lora, 28, and McKeon, 26. Last week in Worcester Superior Court, 30-year-old Chad Easter took the stand and denied that he invaded the home of Alex Lora and Jessica McKeon in 2013, shooting Lora in the hand. In layman's terms, it holds that a bad guy shouldn't benefit if his actions prevent witnesses from testifying against him. The doctrine is called "forfeiture by wrongdoing," and it's a dry legal term that hides a chilling real-world meaning.
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