Commonwealth v. Ortega

**603 A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant, George Ortega, of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation for the shooting death of Steven Fuentes on May 24, 2012. 1 , 2 The shooting was precipitated by a drug turf war. After the close of all the evidence, the defendant requested that the jury be instructed on self-defense and voluntary manslaughter. The request was denied, and the jury were instructed as **604 to the prerequisites for a guilty finding of murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree.

On appeal, the defendant argues that the judge…