Commonwealth v. Abubardar

A jury convicted the defendant of assault and battery as a lesser included offense of attempted murder.2 On appeal the defendant argues that the trial judge erred in instructing the jury only on self-defense by means of deadly force, when the evidence supported a finding that the defendant defended himself with nondeadly force. We affirm.

Background. The Commonwealth elicited the following evidence during its case in chief. In November of 2012, the victim gave the defendant a ride in a van owned by the church they both attended. The defendant sat in the front passenger seat. Once the van was…