State v. Penley
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for two counts of intentional or knowing murder but vacated Defendant's two concurrent life sentences and remanded the case for resentencing, holding that Defendant's sentences were improper.
Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the trial court (1) committed harmless error in admitting evidence of the victim's intention to seek a protection order against Defendant; (2) did not commit obvious error by not, sua sponte, striking the prosecutorial argument in closing implying that Defendant had a burden of proof or by not delivering a limiting instruction; and (3) erred by improperly taking domestic violence into account when setting the basic term of imprisonment for the crimes because a consideration of domestic violence belongs only in the second step of the sentencing process when the court weighs aggravating and mitigating factors.
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