Press Release  Julian Green Conviction Affirmed

Cape and Islands —            Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe announced today that on August 4, 2017, the Massachusetts Appeals Court  affirmed the second degree murder conviction of  Julian Green, d/o/b  06/06/88, of Boston, MA. The defendant was found guilty on July 23, 2010, by a Barnstable County Superior Court jury for murder in the second degree, assault by means of a dangerous weapon (two counts), discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

            On the evening of July 18, 2007, shots from two different guns were fired into the residence of 36 General Patton, Hyannis, killing the victim, Jacques Sellers. 

            The defendant was sentenced to a term of life for murder in the second degree, 3-5 years on the two assault charges concurrent with each other on and after the murder sentence, and a guilty file on the assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon charge. 

            The defendant raised multiple claims on appeal, alleging errors in both the trial proceedings and the denial of the motion for a new trial.     

            On appeal, the defendant argued that a witness’s testimony at the trial for the co-defendant, Anthony Russ, qualified as newly discovered evidence.  The Court held that the testimony was not admissible.  The defendant also claimed that his attorney was ineffective, and the Appeals Court rejected this claim. The Court held that his attorney succeeded in eliciting beneficial statements and was effective during cross-examination.

            The defendant also argued that the admission of 28 letters he wrote in jail to his girlfriend was in error.  The defendant wrote hundreds of letters in jail. He wrote several incriminating statements in these letters: he described the caliber of the gun used to shoot into the house; he referred to the co-defendant; and he signed one of the letters “Free Jules, GP gunner.”  The Court held that the admission of the letters was not in error.

            The defendant asserted that the prosecutor’s closing argument was improper. The Court discerned no substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice in the prosecutor’s referral to the letters, phone records, and DNA evidence. 

            The case was investigated by the State Police Detectives Unit of the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office and the Barnstable Police Department. The case was tried by First Assistant District Attorney Brian S. Glenny. The appeal was handled by Chief of Appeals Elizabeth A. Sweeney.

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