Commonwealth v. Mejia

We granted further appellate review in this case to decide whether the judge’s instructions on self-defense may have led the jury to think that the defendant had to prove that he had acted in self-defense. Contrary to the decision of the Appeals Court, 1 we conclude that the instructions had such potential. Accordingly, we reverse the defendant’s conviction of manslaughter.

There is no need to summarize the evidence presented at the trial in great detail. The. prosecution’s evidence indicated that, after a disagreement, the defendant and the victim confronted each other. At the meeting, the…