McGuire v. Commonwealth
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Appellant Brian McGuire appealed from a judgment of the circuit court convicting him of first-degree manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon on school property and sentencing him to twenty years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court (1) did not deny Appellant's constitutional right to present a defense based on his assertion that the public school system interfered with his efforts to interview witnesses employed by the school system, as the effect of any troublesome conduct of school officials was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) did not err by permitting the Commonwealth to present evidence concerning Appellant's stressful personal life during its case in chief; (3) erred by admitting victim impact evidence during the penalty phase of the trial, but no manifest injustice occurred as a result of the improperly admitted evidence; (4) did not err in the penalty phase by disallowing mitigation testimony from Appellant's father; and (5) erred by permitting the jury to rehear a witness's testimony outside of Appellant's presence, but the error was not palpable.
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