Wright v. Commonwealth

The sole question in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in refusing an instruction proffered by the defendant concerning the effect of voluntary intoxication on first-degree murder charges.

A jury convicted Richard Dempsey Wright of two counts of first-degree murder and fixed his punishment at life imprisonment for each conviction. The jury also convicted Wright of two counts of using a firearm in a threatening manner while committing the murders and fixed his punishment at two years in the penitentiary for each offense. The Circuit Court of the City of Portsmouth sentenced Wright in…