Commonwealth v. O'Brien

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree, aggravated burglary, unarmed robbery, and larceny of a firearm, and affirmed the denial of his motion for a new trial. It held that counsel's decision not to pursue involuntary manslaughter was not manifestly unreasonable, the shoe-print expert testimony was properly admitted, the prosecutor did not commit misconduct concerning the cooperating informant's compensation or the closing argument, and no relief was warranted under the court's extraordinary review authority. The court vacated the unlawful firearm-possession convictions and remanded those charges for a new trial because the Commonwealth had not been required to prove lack of licensure under the subsequently applicable licensing rule.