Commonwealth v. Lacasse

The defendant was tried on an indictment charging the first degree murder of one Bruce Jordan. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. The case is before us on the defendant’s appeal under G. L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G. Error is alleged in the exclusion of certain evidence and in the trial judge’s charge to the jury.

There was evidence from which the jury could have found the following. The decedent was a tenant in an apartment building owned by the defendant in Lawrence, Massachusetts. On December 4, 1971, he gave the defendant a rent check dated December 11, 1971. On the afternoon…