Drug Dealer’s Murder Appeal Turned Down

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a heroin dealer who shot a potential customer to death in Lawrence. Jose Hernandez claimed at trial that he shot Roberto Plaza in the chest on June 7, 2009 in self-defense when Plaza while sitting in his car reached for something shiny that Hernandez thought was a gun.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a heroin dealer who shot a potential customer to death in Lawrence. Jose Hernandez claimed at trial that he shot Roberto Plaza in the chest on June 7, 2009 in self-defense when Plaza while sitting in his car reached for something shiny that Hernandez thought was a gun.…