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.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Taylor's convictions and refused to reduce his murder conviction to manslaughter.
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.