Commonwealth v. Stonehouse

*44OPINION ANNOUNCING THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

LARSEN, Justice.*

The issues of concern presented by this appeal involve the ineffectiveness of trial counsel in a homicide case in 1) failing to request jury instructions that would require the jury to consider the cumulative effects of psychological and physical abuse when assessing the reasonableness of a battered person’s fear of imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm with respect to a claim of self-defense and when assessing what constitutes sufficient provocation to support a conviction for voluntary manslaughter; and 2) failing to…