Massachusetts v. Hinds, 927 N.E.2d 1009 (Mass. 2010)

  • Facts: Hinds lived with his aging mother and was in a dispute with siblings Patricia, Warren, and Mary. After a temporary protection order against Warren was dismissed, Patricia forced her way past Hinds into the mother's house, yelling and threatening to put the mother in a nursing home. Hinds shot Patricia, then walked outside and—as Mary placed her hands on a pocketbook and Warren pushed back his coat—shot both of them. Hinds claimed self-defense. The trial court refused his request for a voluntary-manslaughter instruction.
  • Issue: Whether a voluntary-manslaughter instruction is warranted when ∆ claims provocation from one victim but kills others, and claims self-defense based on innocuous gestures.
  • Rule: Voluntary-manslaughter instruction is warranted only where there is evidence (1) ∆ was reasonably provoked by the victim of the killing, OR (2) ∆ used excessive force in self-defense.
  • Analysis: Reasonable provocation can come only from the victim of the killing—Patricia's provocation cannot be transferred to Mary or Warren. There was also no basis for self-defense: the victims were unarmed; reaching for a pocketbook or moving a jacket is not aggression; ∆ shot first.
  • Judgment: Convictions affirmed.

Reading: pp. 388–96. See Manslaughter.