Commonwealth v. Copeland

**256 On July 29, 2008, John Marshall (victim) was stabbed to death in a parking lot in the Roxbury section of Boston. A grand jury returned indictments charging the defendant, David Copeland, with murder in the first degree and armed robbery. At trial, the defendant conceded that he stabbed the victim, but argued that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time of the killing, that the killing was a spontaneous event, and that he did not rob the victim. A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of felony-murder in the first degree and armed robbery. On appeal from…