Commonwealth v. Butler

The defendant, Quincy Butler, appeals from his convictions of murder in the second degree, G. L. c. 265, § 1, and *600eight related offenses.1 The defendant was tried with a codefend-ant, William Wood, on a theory of joint venture for crimes committed in the course of a botched kidnapping and robbery attempt.2 Wood was convicted of murder in the first degree and various other charges.3 He appealed his convictions to the Supreme Judicial Court, which found no reversible error and found no reason to reduce or reverse the conviction of murder in the first degree pursuant to its authority under G. L.…