Court says JP man got fair trial for 1991 murder for which he's serving life

For the third time, the Supreme Judicial Court has upheld Pedro Valentin's first-degree murder conviction, which means he will spend the rest of his life in state prison for murdering Timothy Bond, who had stolen cocaine from a guy working for Valentin's brother Simon back in 1991.

Although it was Simon who was convicted of shooting Bond in the head in the South Street housing project that fall, Pedro was convicted of murder in 1994 under the joint-venture theory - he accompanied his brother and a witness said that as Bond lay on the ground, he stomped on the man's head and yelled at him to die.

Pedro Valentin, just 20 at the time of the murder, argued he did not get a fair trial because his lawyer's partner represented him for one day during jury deliberations - a day in which the jury asked about the joint-venture theory and premeditation. And he noted there was no record he'd given his consent for the one-day substitution.

The state's highest court said that the lawyer was qualified to act as a defense attorney. Also, "substitute counsel did actively render some assistance to the defendant by ensuring that objections to the instructions made earlier by trial counsel were preserved."

However, the court did recommend that, in the future, judges in such cases engage in an on-the-record discussion with a defendant to see if they agree to have a substitute lawyer stand in.