Commonwealth v. Donovan

A jury convicted the defendant of murder in the first degree by reason of felony-murder. The defendant was also convicted of armed robbery. On appeal, he contends that the trial judge committed error when he failed to: (1) give a requested instruction on assault and battery; (2) give an instruction on involuntary manslaughter; and (3) supplement the given instruction on murder in the second degree. The defendant also claims: improper admission of prejudicial evidence, prosecutorial error in the closing statement, and error in denying the motion for a required finding of not guilty on one of…