Brockton woman gets retrial in boyfriend's slaying

BOSTON (AP) - The state's highest court has awarded a new trial to a Brockton woman convicted of fatally stabbing her boyfriend.

Solange Anestal is serving a life sentence without parole following her 2007 conviction for killing Baby Petitry.

The Supreme Judicial Court said Tuesday that the trial judge erred by letting prosecutors introduce evidence of the defendant's prior bad acts.

The court also said jurors should have had instructions about excessive use of force in self-defense.

Anestal, now 33, claimed she wasn't criminally responsible because of mental problems following years of abuse.

She stabbed the victim, the father of her infant daughter, with glass during a 2003 argument.

Anestal's lawyer says the decision affirms that trials should be fair.

Prosecutors say the SJC's decision doesn't reflect the defendant's fair trial, but they intend to retry Anestal.

Cox Media Group