Commonwealth v. Glover, 459 Mass. 836

Background

January 30, 1992, a jury convicted Corey Glover of second-degree murder for Forrest Hall's stabbing death.
Appeals Court affirmed multiple times; post-trial motions for a new trial were denied; extensive appellate history.
Defense used strategy to seek only self-defense and excessive use of force in self-defense manslaughter instructions; declined reasonable provocation instruction.
Trial evidence: victim deterred by defendant during a prior robbery; stabbing occurred with a knife; defendant claimed self-defense.
Jury instruction dynamics: judge instructed manslaughter only on excessive use of force in self-defense; defense did not favor reasonable provocation instruction; jury asked questions about self-defense, malice, and manslaughter.
Issue on appeal: whether trial counsel's failure to request reasonable provocation instruction violated effective assistance; court held strategy was not manifestly unreasonable and not prejudicial.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether failure to request reasonable provocation instruction was ineffective assistance.	Glover argues evidence warranted provocation instruction; counsel's omission deprived defense ground.	Glover's counsel reasonably chose to pursue self-defense theory; avoiding provocation instruction preserved defense impact.	Not manifestly unreasonable; no substantial risk of miscarriage; affirmed denial of motion for new trial.
Whether defense strategy to rely solely on self-defense foreclosed viable provocation theories.	Reasonable provocation could have yielded voluntary manslaughter verdict.	Dual theories could undermine self-defense case; focusing on one theory was strategic.	Strategic decision not manifestly unreasonable; no miscarriage risk.
Whether any instructional error created a substantial risk of miscarriage of justice.	Omitting provocation instruction could have changed outcome.	Evidence supported excessive self-defense; no substantial risk from not instructing provocation.	No substantial risk; court affirmed denial; any misstatement about acquittal was isolated and harmless.

Key Cases Cited

Commonwealth v. Acevedo, 446 Mass. 435 (Mass. 2006) (guides when to instruct on reasonable provocation and excessive self-defense)
Commonwealth v. Carrion, 407 Mass. 263 (Mass. 1990) (definition of voluntary manslaughter)
Commonwealth v. Walden, 380 Mass. 724 (Mass. 1980) (provocation standard for reasonable provocation)
Commonwealth v. Andrade, 422 Mass. 236 (Mass. 1996) (timing of cooling-off period in heat of passion)
Commonwealth v. Groome, 435 Mass. 201 (Mass. 2001) (objective and subjective reasonableness in provocation)
Commonwealth v. Walker, 443 Mass. 213 (Mass. 2005) (relation between provocation and excessive force theories)
Commonwealth v. Hinds, 457 Mass. 83 (Mass. 2010) (evidence required for excessive self-defense instruction)
Commonwealth v. Lapage, 435 Mass. 480 (Mass. 2001) (tie between provocation and self-defense evidence)
Commonwealth v. Colon, 449 Mass. 207 (Mass. 2007) (self-defense calculation may affect provocation theory applicability)
Commonwealth v. Adams, 374 Mass. 722 (Mass. 1978) (manifestly unreasonable strategy standard for ineffective assistance)
Commonwealth v. Pillai, 445 Mass. 175 (Mass. 2005) (standard for evaluating defense counsel strategy)
Commonwealth v. Levia, 385 Mass. 345 (Mass. 1982) (defense strategy and lesser-included offense guidance)
Commonwealth v. Fenton F., 442 Mass. 31 (Mass. 2004) (hindsight and evaluation of counsel's performance)
Commonwealth v. Saferian, 366 Mass. 89 (Mass. 1974) (standard for evaluating claims of ineffective assistance)
Commonwealth v. Glacken, 451 Mass. 163 (Mass. 2008) (acquittal instruction when self-defense fails)
Commonwealth v. Roberts, 407 Mass. 731 (Mass. 1990) (all-or-nothing approach to defense strategy)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (standard for evaluating ineffective assistance of counsel)