Opinion ID: 2334891
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Submission of Torture Aggravator to Jury

Text: Appellant next contends that the Commonwealth failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Padilla, Jr. was tortured, which was one of five aggravating circumstances found by the jury. To establish a murder was committed by means of torture, the Commonwealth must prove the defendant intentionally inflicted on [the victim] a considerable amount of pain and suffering that was unnecessarily heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity. Commonwealth v. Karenbauer, 552 Pa. 420, 715 A.2d 1086, 1099 (1998); Commonwealth v. Edmiston, 535 Pa. 210, 634 A.2d 1078, 1091 (1993); Commonwealth v. Thomas, 522 Pa. 256, 561 A.2d 699, 709 (1989). The linchpin of the torture analysis is the requirement of an intent to cause pain and suffering in addition to the intent to kill. Commonwealth v. Ockenhouse, 562 Pa. 481, 756 A.2d 1130, 1136 (2000). That is to say, there must be an indication that the defendant was not satisfied with the killing alone. Commonwealth v. King, 554 Pa. 331, 721 A.2d 763, 780 (1998). Commonwealth v. Cuevas, 574 Pa. 409, 832 A.2d 388, 395 (2003). This Court has determined that the factors to be considered in determining whether a murder was accomplished through torture include, but are not limited to: (1) the manner in which the murder was accomplished, including the number and type of wounds inflicted; (2) whether the wounds were inflicted on a vital or non-vital area of the body; (3) whether the victim was conscious when the wounds were received; and (4) the duration of the episode. Ockenhouse, 756 A.2d at 1137. Three of Padilla, Jr.'s injuries were potentially fatal on their own: (1) the strangulation; (2) the knife wound to the neck; and (3) the ice pick through the temple. Padilla, Jr. was also beaten. The medical examiner testified at trial that he was unable to determine the order of the injuries, that any one of the injuries alone could have been sufficient to cause death, and that he was unable to ascertain whether the victim was conscious when the individual injuries were sustained. N.T. 11/19/92 at 488, 490, 495-97. The Commonwealth has the burden of proving aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Baker, 531 Pa. 541, 614 A.2d 663 (1992); Commonwealth v. Lambert, 529 Pa. 320, 603 A.2d 568 (1992). The very array of injuries inflicted upon the victim here was sufficient to warrant the jury in finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the torture aggravator existed. Padilla Jr. was not merely beaten: he was also knifed, stabbed with an ice pick, and strangled. Moreover, he was bound and there was evidence of his waddling across the floor while bound, suggesting he was alive for some time after being so incapacitated. The jury was not obliged to conclude that the first of the potentially fatal injuries must have caused immediate death, and that the other injuries were gratuitous indignities inflicted upon a dead body. Instead, they could draw the logical conclusion that the murderers intended to cause pain and suffering well beyond that inherent in death, which is the linchpin of the torture analysis. Ockenhouse, supra . In any event, because the jury found five aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances respecting the murder of Padilla, Jr., the death sentence would necessarily be affirmed even if we were to conclude that the torture aggravator should not have been submitted to the jury. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. King, 554 Pa. 331, 721 A.2d 763, 784-85 (1998).