BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2014— The state’s highest court today rejected an appeal by the man who murdered retired Cambridge Police Officer Myles “Tony” Lawton and tried to kill a second man, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

In a 32-page decision authored by Chief Justice Ralph Gants, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the 2009 convictions of MICHAEL COLLINS (D.O.B. 11/5/79) for second-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and unlawful possession of a firearm for the fatal shooting death of Lawton, 62, and the non-fatal shooting of a second man.

Among other claims on appeal, Collins argued that prosecutors failed to disclose information regarding what Collins believed was an agreement with the surviving shooting victim to offer a favorable outcome on an open drug case in return for his testimony against Collins.  The justices found that no such deal existed, affirming the decision of a Superior Court judge who had earlier denied a motion for a new trial after hearing testimony from the homicide prosecutor, the Boston Municipal Court prosecutor assigned to the shooting victim’s drug case, and the victim’s defense attorney on that drug case, who all testified that no such agreement was in place.

“Had there been any such deal with [the shooting victim], the Commonwealth would have been required to disclose it,” Gants wrote. “We conclude that the evidence adequately supported the judge’s finding that ‘[the surviving victim] was not given a deal on his BMC drug case in exchange for his testimony at [the defendant’s] trial.’”

The court likewise found no error in the judge’s admission of certain cell phone records that indicated Collins’ cell phone was regularly used the area of Washington D.C. in the days after the murder – an indication that Collins fled immediately after committing the murder.  The records in question show not a phone’s location but an area of up to 100 miles of the location of the mobile switching center that a call was routed through. The justices, who previously ruled in a separate case that cell records that show more specific location information must be obtained through a search warrant, today ruled that records indicating more general location information require not a warrant but a court order, which prosecutors had obtained during this investigation.  The records were properly admitted, the justices found.

The justices also rejected Collins’ argument that his right to a public trial was violated by the trial judge’s decision to sequester certain witnesses during jury selection.  The move was necessary, the justices found, because the witnesses were speaking with each other in front of potential jurors and one potential witness spoke to a prospective juror.

Collins was convicted of shooting Lawton and a second man on Dec. 5, 2006, inside Lawton’s Florida Street apartment, where Collins was expected to sell the surviving victim an amount of cocaine for approximately $38,000.  During a struggle over the bag of cash, Collins struck Lawton in the head and shot him to death.  He then shot the second man three times before fleeing.  He was later arrested in Washington, D.C., and the firearm used in the murder was recovered near an exit ramp on Route 93.

Assistant District Attorney Cailin Campbell of the DA’s Appellate Unit argued the case on appeal.  The case was prosecuted at trial by Assistant District Attorney David Fredette of the DA’s Homicide Unit.  Collins was represented on appeal by Ruth Greenberg.

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