Commonwealth v. Plunkett

We reverse the defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree because only one of the two theories of guilt (deliberate premeditation and felony-murder) on which the case was submitted to the jury was supported by the evidence and, in the circumstances, we cannot fairly conclude that the jury reached their verdict on the theory for which there was evidentiary support.

It is well established in this Commonwealth that a verdict cannot stand unless it appears that the jury reached their verdict on a theory for which there was factual support. See Commonwealth v. Flynn, 420 Mass. 810, 818…