Commonwealth v. Pagan
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant was sixteen years old at the time of the murder. Defendant subsequently filed a motion to reduce the verdict to murder in the second degree. The trial judge granted the motion. After Defendant was resentenced, he filed a notice of appeal. Defendant then filed a motion for a new trial arguing that his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated when the courtroom was closed during jury empanelment. The motion was denied, and Defendant appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the lower court (1) did not err in reducing the verdict to murder in the second degree based on the facts of this case; and (2) did not err in failing to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter based on Defendant’s mental impairment of ADHD and depression in an adolescent brain.
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