Commonwealth v. Odgren

**42A jury convicted the defendant, John Odgren, of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty in the stabbing death of a schoolmate. At trial, the defendant conceded that he had killed the victim and asserted that he lacked criminal responsibility because at the time of the stabbing he was in a transient psychotic state brought on by a confluence of mental illnesses and, as a result, lacked the substantial capacity both to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions and to act in conformity with the law. In his direct appeal, he asserts…