Commonwealth v. Lopez

The defendant, Gregorio “Mikey” Lopez, 1 appeals from his conviction of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. 2 The defendant shot and killed his girl friend’s former boy friend in the early morning hours of March 11, 2009. On appeal, the defendant argues that a new trial is required because (1) the trial judge abused his discretion when he declined to permit evidence of the victim’s prior violence against the defendant’s girl friend to be admitted and, by doing so, denied him his constitutional right to present a defense; (2) the…