Commonwealth v. Copeland
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of felony-murder in the first degree and armed robbery, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings below, and there was no reason for the Court to exercise its authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to order a new trial or reduce the verdict to voluntary manslaughter.
Specifically, the Court held (1) the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction of felony-murder because there was sufficient evidence of armed robbery, the predicate felony; (2) the judge did not err in declining to instruct the jury on felony-murder in the second degree; (3) any errors in the Commonwealth’s closing argument did not create a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice; and (4) Defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel.
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