Commonwealth v. Alcequiecz, 989 N.E.2d 473

Defendant entered Poisson's home and attacked her with a car battery charger pack, killing Mejia and injuring Poisson.
He was convicted of first-degree felony-murder, armed burglary, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
The armed burglary was the predicate felony for the felony-murder conviction, and the armed burglary conviction was later deemed duplicative and vacated.
Defendant raised a post-trial ineffective-assistance claim alleging trial counsel errors, prosecutorial improper closing, and duplicative convictions.
The court denied relief on the ineffective-assistance claim and the closing argument issue, and vacated the armed burglary conviction, remanding for entry of dismissal.
The court conducted a G. L. c. 278, § 33E review and found no basis for reducing the murder conviction or granting a new trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Defendant argues trial counsel failed to request provocation instructions and other clarifications.	Counsel's omissions affected Felony-Murder issues and timing arguments.	No reversible error; strategic decisions not manifestly unreasonable.
Prosecutor's closing argument	Prosecutor urged jury to imagine being struck by the battery charger.	Improper, prejudicial conduct.	Not reversible error; single inappropriate remark unlikely to cause miscarriage of justice.
Duplicative conviction	Armed burglary should stand with felony-murder conviction.	Armed burglary is a lesser included offense and duplicative.	Armed burglary vacated; duplication error corrected.
Felony-murder instructions and timing	Trial counsel failed to argue timing of killing relative to armed burglary.	Killing occurred after burglary completion, should not support felony-murder.	Instructions proper; killing within one continuous transaction supports felony-murder.
Right of occupation as defense to armed burglary		Defendant may have had a right of occupation; cannot burglarize own dwelling.	Court found jury could reasonably conclude no right of occupation existed; instruction proper.

Commonwealth v. Rolon, 462 Mass. 102 (2012) (felony-murder connection and timing; res gestae guidance)
Commonwealth v. Gunter, 427 Mass. 259 (1998) (armed burglary as predicate for felony-murder; entry and assault context)
Commonwealth v. Ortiz, 408 Mass. 463 (1990) (killing in connection with felony; timing and transaction view)
Commonwealth v. Rogers, 459 Mass. 249 (2011) (post-robust analysis of felony-murder timing; continuing transaction)
Commonwealth v. Dellelo, 349 Mass. 525 (1965) (principles on continuous transaction and felony-murder)
Commonwealth v. Negron, 462 Mass. 102 (2012) (armed burglary evidence sufficiency; dangerous weapon standard)