Commonwealth v. Garcia

**408 *768 A jury convicted the defendant of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The judge sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on the murder conviction.

**409 2 On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the judge erred in declining to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter; (2) the defendant's age at the time of his crimes -- nineteen years old -- renders his sentence unconstitutional; and (3) the judge should have granted a new trial due to a partial court room closure. The defendant…