Commonwealth v. Weber Andrade

Summary

The court held that evidence of a victim's violent acts occurring after the charged offense may be admissible to show that the victim was the initial aggressor or first user of deadly force, but affirmed exclusion of the evidence here because those issues were not disputed. The court also held that the judge was not required to instruct sua sponte on defense of another because the defendant relied on self-defense, no evidence supported a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to protect his wife, and counsel did not argue that theory.