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Supreme Judicial Court hears dispute over larceny instruction in felony-murder case
Summary
The Supreme Judicial Court considered whether the trial judge should have instructed jurors on the lesser offense of larceny from a person in Commonwealth v. Kaiden J. Henderson (SJC-13482); the defense says that omission likely prejudiced the defendant, while the Commonwealth maintains the record provided no rational basis for that instruction.
The Supreme Judicial Court heard oral argument in SJC-13482, Commonwealth v. Kaiden J. Henderson, on whether a trial judge should have instructed the jury on the lesser included offense of larceny from a person, a change defense counsel said could have undercut Henderson’s felony-murder conviction.
Dana Curhan, attorney for Kaiden Henderson, told the justices that after co-defendant David Trongeau stabbed the victim, Henderson “grabbed two bags that did not belong to him,” and urged the court to treat the taking as possibly an opportunistic larceny occurring after the fatal attack rather than an armed robbery. "Had the jury been properly instructed, they could have acquitted him," Curhan said, arguing that the absence of a larceny instruction likely prejudiced the defendant and warranted at least a new trial.
The defense emphasized gaps and ambiguities in the evidentiary record. Curhan noted the…
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