Title: Com. v. Moore

State: pennsylvania

Issuer: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Document:

476 Pa. 19 (1978) 381 A.2d 845 COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Gary MOORE, Petitioner. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. January 26, 1978. *20 Barton A. Haines, Philadelphia, for petitioner. F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, Dist. Atty., Philadelphia County, Michael R. Stiles, Asst. Dist. Atty., Chief Appeals Div., Philadelphia, for respondent. Before EAGEN, C.J., and O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ. PER CURIAM: Petitioner Gary Moore was convicted of possession of an instrument of crime, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 907 (1973). The trial court instructed the jury: Petitioner objected to this charge. Section 907(a) provides: The Commonwealth must prove every element of the offense, including criminal intent, beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Hardick, 475 Pa. 475, 380 A.2d 1235 (1977). Although criminal intent can be inferred beyond a reasonable doubt from the surrounding circumstances, it cannot be inferred from mere possession. Id. Therefore, the court erred when it charged the jury that criminal intent could be inferred from mere possession of an instrument of crime. Accordingly, we grant petition for allocatur, reverse the judgment of sentence and award petitioner a new trial.