Mention of Role in Paul Pierce Stabbing Not Enough for Retrial

A man sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to kill a federal witness isn’t entitled to a new trial based on his attorney’s failure to object to the admission of evidence that he was involved in the 2000 stabbing of then-Boston Celtics basketball player Paul Pierce.

Trevor Watson can’t shake off his conviction for stabbing Drug Enforcement Administration informant Curtis Best because there was no error in the trial court taking judicial notice of the facts from the 2002 Pierce assault trial, including a witnesses’ recantation, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said Wednesday.

And ...