Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Sneed
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided August 13, 1992PublishedCited by 63 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtWilkins, J.
A jury found the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree of Robert St. Clair, the seventeen month old son of the defendant’s girl friend. We grant a new trial because the judge’s ambivalent instruction concerning the second prong of malice would have permitted a reasonable juror to find malice on a lesser level of proof than the law requires. See Commonwealth v. Moreira, 385 Mass. 792, 796 (1982).
In May, 1988, the defendant was living in the Brockton apartment of Barbara St. Clair with her and her three children, the…
2Cases cited25 opinions
- Commonwealth v. WelanskyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1944
- Commonwealth v. MatchettMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1982
- Commonwealth v. GreyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1987
- Commonwealth v. GrazianoMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1975
- Commonwealth v. Colon-CruzMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1990
20 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by63 opinions
- Commonwealth v. CurtisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1994
- Commonwealth v. AcevedoMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2006
- Commonwealth v. WoodwardMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1998
- David v. HallCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit · 2003
- Commonwealth v. FryarMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1997
58 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.