Commonwealth v. Jordan, 125 N.E.3d 800 (2019)

Citation: Commonwealth v. Jordan, 125 N.E.3d 800 (2019)
Parent Document: Commonwealth v. Jordan, 125 N.E.3d 800 (2019)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2019-05-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7179122/commonwealth-v-jordan/ ↗

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b. Jury instruction. At trial, the defendant requested, in writing and orally, a specific instruction on the elements of willfully injuring a police dog. The judge gave the requested instruction. The defendant now claims that the instruction was erroneous and warrants a new trial. We disagree. We review an invited error such as this for a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See Commonwealth v. Leary, 92 Mass. App. Ct. 332, 342 (2017) ("[A]n error in the giving of ... a jury instruction, if occasioned by the defendant's own request, is regarded as an invited error, and is reviewable only to the extent necessary to prevent a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice"). See also E.B. Cypher, Criminal Practice and Procedure § 34:10 (4th ed. 2014). "We review the evidence and the case as a whole. We consider the strength of the Commonwealth's case, the nature of the error, the significance of the error in the context of the trial, and the possibility that the absence of an objection was the result of a reasonable tactical decision." Leary, supra at 343, quoting Commonwealth v. Azar, 435 Mass. 675, 687 (2002).

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