Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court December 18, 1986 (Commonwealth v. Anderson)

Wilkins, J.

The defendant, convicted of murder in the first degree of his wife, contends that, because he was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel, he is entitled to a new trial. Through new counsel on appeal, he argues that his trial counsel failed to present helpful expert testimony concerning his state of mind at the time he stabbed his wife to death.