Commonwealth v. Lopez

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Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and declined to exercise its powers under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E, holding (1) the trial judge did not abuse his discretion when he refused to admit evidence of the victim’s prior violence against Defendant’s girl friend; (2) even if the prosecutor’s comments in his closing argument were improper, they did not warrant reversal; and (3) the Court need not address Defendant’s argument that the Court should require the defendant’s state of mind to be considered in determining whether a murder is committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty. View "Commonwealth v. Lopez" on Justia Law