Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 6/12/1995

Commonwealth v. Torres

Citations

420 Mass. 479
651 N.E.2d 360
1995 Mass. LEXIS 274

How courts have described this case

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

noting that “the defendant was not entitled to any instruction on self-defense or defense of another. Therefore, whatever the judge said ... was more favorable to the defendant than he deserved and could not have prejudiced his position”
“Judges need not deliver their instructions in any particular form of words, so long as all necessary instructions are given in adequate words”
no particular form of words required for jury instruction so long as instruction given adequately explains legal concepts
erroneous self-defense instruction was harmless because evidence showed that defendant “was not entitled to” any such instruction
defendant not entitled to self-defense instruction absent evidence of reasonable and actual belief that he or another was in imminent danger of death of serious bodily harm
defendant not entitled to self-defense instruction absent evidence of reasonable and actual belief that he or another was in imminent danger of death of serious bodily harm

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Liacos

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

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

Cites

29 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

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.