Man whose coke case went to Supreme Court and led to spate of overturned drug, gun convictions found not guilty

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today found Luis Melendez-Diaz not guilty of cocaine-possession charges - ten years after his initial conviction for an incident at the South Bay mall, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Melendez-Diaz appealed his initial conviction, based in part on the argument he had been deprived of his constitutional right to confront his accusers because his lawyer was not allowed to call the technician who had certified the material found in the car in which he was riding was cocaine.

The case wound up before the US Supreme Court, which ruled in 2009 that Melendez-Diaz was right - but left the matter of whether he deserved a new trial up to Massachusetts courts. In the 18 months or so since, state courts have overturned a series of drug and gun cases based on the Supreme Court decision - even as the Massachusetts Appeals Court was considering what to do about Melendez-Diaz himself.

In February of last year, the court granted Melendez-Diaz a new trial.