Commonwealth v. Rodriquez, 461 Mass. 100

Convicted February 9, 2010 of first-degree murder by extreme atrocity or cruelty.
Defendant Luis Rodriguez, represented by new counsel, challenges trial rulings.
Incident occurred November 29, 2008 in a store parking lot in Lowell after a drunken dispute with the victim about language.
Victim Mazen Alwarad sustained multiple stab wounds and died from internal injuries.
Defendant was located December 3, 2008 at his mother's home and gave inconsistent statements; police recovered related evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for extreme atrocity or cruelty	Latimore framework supports first-degree murder	Cunneen factors not satisfied	Evidence sufficient under Cunneen criteria
Heat of passion/sudden combat instruction	Burden properly on Commonwealth to prove absence of mitigating factors	Jury should be instructed on heat of passion	No substantial likelihood of miscarriage; no error requiring reversal
Excessive use of force in self-defense	Evidence could support self-defense instruction	Self-defense instruction warranted	No entitlement to self-defense instruction; defendant was aggressor and failed to establish reasonable basis for self-defense
Exclusion of prior violent conduct of victim	Victim's prior violence admissible to support self-defense	Evidence highly probative to show first aggressor	Judge correctly excluded; evidence did not raise self-defense issue
G. L. c. 278, § 33E review	Court should reduce to second-degree murder or manslaughter	Verdict should be reduced due to weight of the evidence	No basis to reduce; verdict affirmed

Commonwealth v. Cunneen, 389 Mass. 216 (Mass. 1983) (factors for extreme atrocity or cruelty)
Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671 (Mass. 1979) (standard for sufficiency of evidence in Latimore)
Commonwealth v. Anderson, 445 Mass. 195 (Mass. 2005) (Cunneen-based appraisal of brutal killings)
Commonwealth v. Noeun Sok, 439 Mass. 428 (Mass. 2003) (evidence of extreme atrocity where victim conscious and in pain)
Commonwealth v. Walden, 380 Mass. 724 (Mass. 1980) (heat of passion and sudden combat principles)
Commonwealth v. Webster, 5 Cush. 295 (Mass. 1850) (early articulation of sudden combat concepts)
Commonwealth v. Espada, 450 Mass. 687 (Mass. 2008) (limitation on self-defense and provocation)
Commonwealth v. Pasteur, 66 Mass. App. Ct. 812 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006) (sudden combat not established where no mutual attack)
Commonwealth v. Clemente, 452 Mass. 295 (Mass. 2008) (burden of proof and manslaughter instructions)
Commonwealth v. LeClair, 445 Mass. 734 (Mass. 2006) (common-law basis for voluntary manslaughter)