Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Howard
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided December 8, 2017No. SJC–12199PublishedCited by 20 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtGaziano, J.
*1111**53On January 28, 2009, a heated argument between the defendant and a coworker, Maurice Ricketts (victim), escalated into a fatal shooting. At trial, there was no dispute that the defendant had shot the victim; the issue before the jury was the defendant's state of mind and whether the shooting had been in response to some form of reasonable provocation.
A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation.1 In this direct appeal from his conviction, the defendant challenges the judge's decision not to instruct the jury on the…
2Cases cited44 opinions
- Commonwealth v. FlebotteMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1994
- Commonwealth v. HelfantMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1986
- Commonwealth v. CraytonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2014
- Commonwealth v. WaldenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1980
- Commonwealth v. CurtisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1994
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3Cited by20 opinions
- Commonwealth v. RhodesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2019
- Commonwealth v. BeattyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2023
- Commonwealth v. Boima CollinsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2025
- Commonwealth v. CottoMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2026
- Commonwealth v. Dara PoumMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2025
15 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.