Appeals court hears dispute over whether pointing gun and saying "I'll ******* shoot you" proved imminent threat

An Appeals Court panel of Justice Mead, Justice Ditkoff and Justice Hirschvang heard oral argument in case 24P699, Commonwealth v. Fagan, on the sufficiency of the evidence for an assault-by-means-of-a-dangerous-weapon conviction and a related ineffective-assistance claim.

Stephen Goldman, counsel for the Fagans, told the panel that the Commonwealth did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the intent to place the alleged victim in imminent fear of a battery or that a reasonable person would have apprehended imminent harm. Goldman described the incident as a “glorified road rage” episode occurring in daylight at a gas station and argued that, in that context, it was not reasonable to infer the…