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Massachusetts High Court Hears Rintala Murder Conviction Appeal

Cara Rintala is handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom after being found guilty of first-degree murder in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.
Carol Lollis
/
Daily Hampshire Gazette / gazettenet.com
Cara Rintala is handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom after being found guilty of first-degree murder in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments Monday in the murder conviction of Cara Rintala. The Granby woman was found guilty in 2016 of murdering her wife.

The case made national headlines, as it's been widely reported as the first time in Massachusetts a person was charged with murdering their same-sex spouse.

Rintala was convicted during a third trial in 2016, after the first two resulted in deadlocked juries. 

Annamarie Rintala's body was covered in paint when she was found dead in 2010. Prosecutors have said Cara Rintala dumped it on the body of her wife in order to contaminate the crime scene. 

Chauncey Wood, Cara Rintala's attorney, argued before the state's highest court that certain claims by a prosecution expert during the trial should not have been admitted.

Wood said claims that "the paint at the crime scene was intentionally poured, and poured within 30 minutes of the first responders' arrival, were grossly unreliable, and therefore never should have been admitted at Cara Rintala's third trial."

Prosecutors argued the expert was qualified — and that the judge was right to admit experiments conducted as evidence.

Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne stood up for David Guilianelli, the expert.

"First of all, it can't be ...overstated how experienced and knowledgeable Mr. Guilianelli was — not just within the paint field; not just as 20 years as a chemist," Gagne said. "He literally designed this paint."

The SJC took the case under advisement. 

Adam joined NEPM as a freelance reporter and fill-in operations assistant during the summer of 2011. For more than 15 years, Adam has had a number stops throughout his broadcast career, including as a news reporter and anchor, sports host and play-by-play announcer as well as a producer and technician.
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