Commonwealth v. Richards

*397Abrams, J.

In 1970, the defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree on an indictment charging him with murder in the first degree in the death of Robert Nute.1 The case is here on the defendant’s appeal pursuant to G. L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G.2 Richards alleges that (1) the judge’s instructions to the jury effectively precluded a reasonable juror from returning a verdict of manslaughter or acquittal by reason of self-defense rather than murder, and (2) the judge’s failure to direct a finding of not guilty on so much of the indictment as charged murder in the second degree was error…