Commonwealth v. Thompson

A jury found the defendant, Charles Thompson, guilty of the murder in the first degree of his wife, Andrea Thompson, on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty.1 The defendant appeals from his conviction and makes the following claims of error: (1) the judge should have granted his motion for a required finding of not guilty; (2) the admission of only a portion of the defendant’s statement to police, rather than the entire statement; (3) evidentiary rulings; (4) references to the defendant’s silence; (5) inappropriate comments in the prosecutor’s closing argument.…