Commonwealth v. Ward

The defendant, Justin C. Ward, was convicted of murder in the first degree and illegal possession of a firearm. He appeals from the murder conviction. Finding error in the judge’s jury instruction on deliberate premeditation, we reduce the conviction to murder in the second degree. We decline to grant a new trial or to reduce the verdict to manslaughter under G. L. c. 278, § 33E.

I

In the early morning of April 1, 1994, the defendant loaded two bullets into a five-chamber handgun and, after spinning the chamber, pointed the gun at his companion and pulled the trigger. The victim, twenty year…