Commonwealth v. Toon

In the early morning of Saturday, July 11, 1998, the defendant Troy A. Toon stabbed Gary Moréis on Warwick Avenue in the Oak Bluffs section of Martha’s Vineyard. Moréis bled to death. A jury found the defendant guilty upon indictments charging murder in the second degree and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, a knife.1 On appeal, the defendant contends that (1) erroneous instructions on self-defense and the use of excessive force in self-defense prevented the jury from returning a verdict of voluntary manslaughter, and (2) a requested, but erroneous, instruction on inferences…