Commonwealth v. Azar

On July 28, 1989, the defendant was convicted of the second degree murder of his four month old daughter on an indictment comprehending murder in the first degree. More than six years after we affirmed his conviction in Commonwealth v. Azar, 32 Mass. App. Ct. 290 (1992), the defendant filed a pro se motion for a new trial or, “[i]n the alternative, ... for the entry of a finding of guilty to the lesser included offense of manslaughter.” The defendant claimed he was entitled to relief on the grounds that the trial judge’s instructions on third prong malice were erroneous and that his trial…