Commonwealth v. Allen

On March 21, 2012, a jury convicted the defendant, *163James Allen, of murder in the second degree,1 and of carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, and possession of a large capacity firearm feeding device without a license.2 At trial, his defense was that he was justified in using deadly force because he was coming to defense of a friend (Shawn Buchanan) who was being threatened with deadly force by the victim, Senai Williams.

The defendant timely appealed from his convictions, and we granted his application for direct appellate…