The defendant was indicted for murder in the first degree, and was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury. In this appeal under G. L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G, he recites nineteen assignments оf error.
*65 The facts are as follows, all as established by a statement given to the police by the defendant on February 22, 1976, and corroborated as well as supplemented, in various particulars, by circumstantial evidence. Thе defendant had lived with the victim, a young woman, for several years, but they had discontinued this arrangement at some time prior to February 18, 1976, the date of her deаth. On that date the defendant had unexpectedly encountered the victim in Gardner. She accompanied him for a ride in his automobile. He asked her tо renew their relationship, but she was noncommittal. While the automobile was stоpped, they fought and struggled and he attempted to tie her hands with a piece of rawhide. She fell out of the vehicle, and the struggle continued at the sidе of the road. The next thing he remembers is that he had a knife in his hand, and it was covеred with blood. He drove to Virginia, but later returned to this Commonwealth and surrenderеd to police. Meanwhile, the victim’s body had been discovered in a woоded area by a passerby. The defendant made a statement to the police after being advised of his constitutional rights. It was shown at the trial that the viсtim died as a result of twelve stab wounds in her left chest.
In his brief, the defendant purports to argue seventeen assignments of error. However, he has cited no аuthority or case law which would lend support to his claim of error in connection with the trial of this case. Most recently, this court has stated that this type of presentation falls short of anything that can properly be called аrgument under S.J.C. Rule 1:13, as amended,
Nevertheless, we have reviewed all of the assignments raised, and we find no error. One of these assignments contends that the trial judge was in error in denying the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict as to so much of
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the indictment as alleged murder in the first degree. Since the jury returned a verdict of murder in the second degree, this ruling, even if erroneous, was harmless. However, the judge’s ruling was correct. It is sufficient to state here that the twelve stab wounds in the victim’s chest warranted infеrences of both malice and deliberate premeditation.
Commonwealth
v.
Reddick,
Three of the assignments charge error in the judge’s handling of several contentions relating to alleged prejudice of jurors arising out of newspaper publicity rеlated to the case. There was no error. The judge carefully interrogated the jurors separately as to these issues. In each instance it was either established that the juror had not read the newspaper referenсes, or else there was a sufficient showing of the juror’s impartiality, despite such reading, to allow the judge in his discretion to permit the juror to sit. See
Commonwealth
v.
Blackburn,
The remаining assignments of error concern various rulings on evidence by the judge. We find no mеrit in any of these contentions.
We have reviewed the entire record in accordance with our duties under G. L. c. 278, § 33E. We reject the defendant’s argument that we should exercise our powers to reduce the verdict to a conviction of manslaughter. The great weight of the evidence, particularly thе evidence as to the defendant’s attempt to tie the victim’s hands and the evidence of multiple stab wounds, supported an inference of malicе as inherent in murder in the second degree. See
Commonwealth
v.
Watkins,
Judgment affirmed.