Commonwealth v. Taylor, 463 Mass. 857

The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder by deliberate premeditation for killing David Fleet.
The victim and others hosted a party; uninvited guests, including the defendant, arrived, and a fight occurred.
After the fight, the defendant returned to the porch, threatened, and fired a shot through a glass door, killing Fleet.
Ballistics matched the nine-millimeter pistol found in Home's vehicle to the shot that killed Fleet.
The defendant gave statements to police inconsistent with his guilt, and several witnesses testified against him.
Defense argued issues on jury instructions, substitute-judge conduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, and punishment under G. L. c. 278, § 33E.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Vacillating premeditation instruction on transferred intent	Commonwealth contends transferred-intent theory supported by evidence.	Defendant argues instruction premised on transferred intent with insufficient evidence.	Not error; instruction proper given circumstances.
Rule 38(a) substitution during trial	Rule 38(a) allowed substitute judge to provide answer.	Substitution without sickness/disablement certification violated rule 38(a).	No reversible error; no substantial miscarriage of justice.
Ineffective assistance of counsel from opening promises	Defense promised to prove innocence, potentially misplacing burden.	Promises showed ineffective assistance by overpromising proof.	Not ineffective assistance; record shows effective cross-examination and defense theory.
G. L. c. 278, § 33E review	Conviction appropriate; no need to reduce or order a new trial.	Conviction should be reduced to voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.	No reduction or new trial; weight of evidence supports murder in the first degree.

Commonwealth v. Diaz, 431 Mass. 822 (Mass. 2000) (premeditated murder transferred-intent doctrine applied)
Commonwealth v. Pitts, 403 Mass. 665 (Mass. 1989) (transferred intent and premeditation principles in murder)
Commonwealth v. Reaves, 434 Mass. 383 (Mass. 2001) (deliberate premeditation in group-target scenario)
Commonwealth v. Chipman, 418 Mass. 262 (Mass. 1994) (premeditation when targeting vehicles; multiple victims)
Commonwealth v. Walker, 460 Mass. 590 (Mass. 2011) (premeditation may attach to group-target behavior)
Commonwealth v. Jiles, 428 Mass. 66 (Mass. 1998) (deliberate premeditation frameworks in murder cases)
Commonwealth v. Waite, 422 Mass. 792 (Mass. 1996) (charge evaluation; evaluating jury understanding)
Commonwealth v. Stewart, 460 Mass. 817 (Mass. 2011) (evaluating transferred-intent-like instructions)
State v. Batson, 339 Mo. 298 (Mo. 1936) (cautionary transferred-intent-like instructions can be prejudicial)
State v. Hall, 771 N.W.2d 472 (Minn. 2009) (warning against inappropriate transferred-intent instructions)
Commonwealth v. Trapp, 396 Mass. 202 (Mass. 1985) (reversible-error analysis for substitute judges with jury questions)