Case Title: Commonwealth v. Toby, Pet. (Summary Disposition)

Citation: 

Docket Number: 475 MAL 2008

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 2008-12-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Respondent v. DENNIS TOBY, Petitioner : : : : : : : : : : No. 475 MAL 2008 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court ORDER PER CURIAM DECIDED: December 17, 2008 AND NOW, this 17th day of December 2008, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED, limited to the question of whether the Superior Court erred when, on the basis of waiver, it refused to consider the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on the offense of involuntary manslaughter and the defense of duress. Further, the Superior Court’s decision is VACATED to the extent it found waived Petitioner’s challenge to the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury on the offense of involuntary manslaughter and the defense of duress in light of our decision in Commonwealth v. Garcia, 888 A.2d 633, 636 (Pa. 2005) (holding that in trials occurring before our decision in Commonwealth v. Pressley, 887 A.2d 220 (Pa. 2005), a party does not waive an issue regarding the jury charge where a requested instruction is rejected by the trial court and the party does not object when the trial court charges the jury). The matter is REMANDED to Superior Court to address this issue.