Commonwealth v. DeMarco

On August 9, 2000, the defendant fatally strangled the victim, his wife. A Superior Court jury found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Represented by new counsel on appeal, the defendant, who testified at trial that he had killed the victim during a fight, *679argues that the trial judge erred by admitting evidence of the defendant’s prior misconduct and by failing to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter. He also contends that he was denied effective assistance by trial counsel’s failing to argue…