Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 3/9/1978

Commonwealth v. Collins

Citations

373 N.E.2d 969
374 Mass. 596
1978 Mass. LEXIS 879

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

holding insufficient instructions that defendant “seeks to establish” self-defense
notwithstanding retroactive effect of new constitutional rule on jury instruction language, Supreme Judicial Court as matter of State practice will give “more careful scrutiny” to jury instructions following date of opinion
“ ‘traditional instruction that a person may be held to intend the natural and probable consequences of his conduct’ must not be phrased so as to establish a presumption in favor of the Commonwealth which the defendant must overcome”
reference to defendant as an “animal” characterized as impermissible excess
disproving reasonable provocation and self-defense
burden of proof placed on defendant

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Hennessey, Quirico, Braucher, Wilkins, Liacos

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

54 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

16 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.