Commonwealth v. Phim

The defendant appeals from his convictions of murder in the second degree and related firearms charges. The defendant was convicted on retrial; the jury at his first trial were unable to agree on a unanimous verdict. The defendant contends, among other things, that State and Federal double jeopardy protections precluded the judge at the second trial from instructing the jury on accessory liability where no such instruction was provided to the first jury. We conclude that the instruction given at the second trial was appropriate, because it would have been supported by the evidence introduced…