BOSTON (AP) - The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld the convictions
of a man accused of killing the host of a party.
Dwayne Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder and unlawful possession
of a firearm in the 2004 shooting of David Fleet.
Authorities said Taylor had a disagreement with Fleet during the party, then
returned later in the evening and shot him in the chest through a glass door of
the house.
Taylor appealed, arguing that the judge gave erroneous instructions to the
jury at his trial and that a conviction of voluntary manslaughter would be more
appropriate based on the evidence.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Taylor's convictions and
refused to reduce his murder conviction to manslaughter.
