BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2014—The state’s highest court has ruled that a man who took part in the 1991 murder of Timothy Bond in Jamaica Plain will not receive a new trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

The Supreme Judicial Court in a decision authored by Justice Robert Cordy today affirmed a lower court’s order denying PEDRO VALENTIN a new trial more than two decades after he was convicted of first-degree murder for his role as a joint venturer in Bond’s July 15, 1991, murder.  The same court affirmed Valentin’s conviction in 1995; today’s decision came in response to Valentin’s appeal of a Suffolk Superior Court judge’s denial of his 2012 motion for a new trial.

In his latest appeal, Valentin argued that he was denied effective representation because his trial attorney failed to impeach a witness’ testimony that the defendant claimed was inconsistent with prior statements to police.  The witness was one of four people who testified to seeing Valentin kick or stomp on the victim after the defendant’s brother, SIMON VALENTIN, shot the man twice in the head in retaliation for robbing a drug dealer working for Simon Valentin.  The witness also testified that he overheard Valentin say “die” and call the victim an obscenity before fleeing.

The justices found that the attorney’s strategic decision not to highlight the overheard statement during an extensive cross-examination was manifestly reasonable and was not likely to have impacted the jury’s findings.

“[E]ven though the specific statement was not impeached, there was substantial additional evidence from which the jury could have inferred that the defendant shared Simon’s intent to kill the victim, including evidence that the defendant (1) knew that Simon was angry at the victim over a drug deal gone bad; (2) knew that Simon had a gun; (3) appeared to be acting as a lookout before the crime; (4) arrived with and stood with the shooter during the commission of the crime; and (5) fled with and urged the shooter to conceal the gun,” Cordy wrote.

The justices likewise denied Valentin’s claim that he was denied effective representation when a substitute attorney represented him during jury deliberations.  The attorney was able to provide meaningful representation when jurors requested additional instruction on joint venture and premeditation.

“Here, substitute counsel was not fundamentally incapable of representing the defendant’s interests for the brief period of his representation to warrant a finding of structural error,” the justices wrote.

Valentin was convicted at a May 1992 jury trial of sharing his brother Simon Valentin’s intent and willingness to kill Bond after Bond stole cocaine from a drug dealer working for Simon Valentin.  Simon Valentin approached Bond from behind on Metcalf Court and shot him in the back of the head; after Bond fell to the ground, Simon Valentin shot him again in the head.  Pedro Valentin, who was with his brother, then stomped on the victim before the two fled.  The jury found that Valentin shared his brother’s willingness and intent to kill Bond and convicted him of first-degree murder.  He was acquitted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Linn of the DA’s Appellate Unit argued the case on appeal.  Valentin was represented by Dennis Shedd.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.