Commonwealth v. Atencio

345 Mass. 627, 189 N.E.2d (1963)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The deceased, his brother Ronald, and Ds spent the day drinking wine in the deceased's room in a rooming house in Boston. Eventually, one of the party wanted out and procured a gun and removed one of the bullets from its chambers. The conversation turned to 'Russian roulette.' The 'game' was played. The deceased and Atencio (D) were seated on a bed, and Marshall (D) was seated on a couch. Marshall examined the gun, saw that it contained one cartridge, and, after spinning it on his arm, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He handed the gun to Atencio, who repeated the process, again without results. Atencio passed the gun to the deceased, who spun it, put it to his head, and pulled the trigger. The cartridge exploded, and he fell over dead. Both parties Ds were convicted of manslaughter and appealed.