Opinion ID: 2343208
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: issue 1jury instruction on first-degree murder

Text: Jones contends that his first-degree murder convictions were obtained in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution because the trial court's instructions were flawed in two respects. [13] First, Jones avers that the trial court erred when it permitted the jury to infer his specific intent to kill from his alleged use of a deadly weapon on the vital organs of unintended victims. Second, he believes that the trial court improperly permitted the jury to find that he possessed a specific intent to kill based upon the acts of his co-conspirators. Jones charges that these errors violated the mandate of In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 361, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), that the prosecution prove each element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Contrary to the contention of Jones, when reviewed as a whole, the trial court properly instructed the jurors. Jones begins his initial argument by agreeing that, because the prosecution's theory was that Jones intended to kill Sylvester Williams, instead killing two bystanders, the trial court properly instructed the jury on the principle of transferred intent. [14] Jones argues, however, that the instruction given violated his due process right as there was no rational connection between the proven facts and the ultimate fact presumed by the jury. (Brief of Jones at 17-18). In order to find a defendant guilty of first-degree murder, a jury must find: (1) a specific intent to kill; and (2) malice. Pa. Suggested Standard Criminal Jury Instruction 15.2502A (1979). Pursuant to the doctrine of transferred intent, the intent to murder may be transferred where the person actually killed is not the intended victim. 18 Pa.C.S. § 303(b)(1). Where the prosecution is arguing transferred intent, as it did in the instant matter, the instructions to the jury are considered proper if they merely suggest [] to the jury a possible conclusion to be drawn if the State proves predicate facts, but do[] not require the jury to draw that conclusion. Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 314, 105 S.Ct. 1965, 85 L.Ed.2d 344 (1985). The suggested conclusion, however, violates due process where it is not one that reason and common sense justify based on the facts of the specific case. Id. at 314-15, 105 S.Ct. 1965 (citing Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 157-63, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979)). In order to satisfy due process, there must be a rational connection between the proven facts and the ultimate fact that the instruction permits the jury to presume, and the latter must be more likely than not to flow from the former. Ulster County Court, 442 U.S. at 165, 99 S.Ct. 2213. In the present case, the trial court instructed the jury that it could infer legal malice from the intentional use without legal excuse or legal justification of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body of a victim, (N.T., 5/18/83, at 6020), and that it could also find specific intent: As to [the facts of this case] the law holds, with respect to that type of evidence, for your consideration that, where anyone, without sufficient cause or provocation, unlawfully kills another person by using a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body with a manifest intention to so use it, an inference may be drawn in the absence of qualifying circumstances by common knowledge that such use of a deadly weapon is likely to cause death. Thus, as was the case with malice, previously explained to you, further under Pennsylvania law, an intent to kill may be inferred by reason of the killer's use of a deadly weapon to a vital part of the body of his victim. ( Id. at 6027-28). Jones believes that where the killing of the bystanders was accidental, it is irrational to infer malice and specific intent from the fact that the bullet struck a vital portion of the unintended victim's body. This argument fails. The very purpose of the transferred intent instruction is to permit appropriate inferences of malice and specific intent to flow to an unintended victim. Thus, the only question before us is whether the inference described by the trial court in the instant case met the requirements of due process. The trial court specifically stated that the jurors may draw an inference and that an intent to kill may be transferred. The instructions clearly permitted the jury to reach these conclusions, but nothing in the language used demanded or in any other way required the jury to make this finding. The instructions, therefore, were proper because they were in the nature of a permissive inference. The remaining question is whether the permissive inference is justifiable in light of the proven facts. The facts establish that Jones intended to kill Williams and that he possessed both the malice and the specific intent to do so. Transferring this intent to an unintended victim is permitted by statute and easily meets the requirement of a rational connection between the proven facts and the inference. Thus, this claim fails. Second, Jones contends that the trial court's instructions regarding conspiratorial liability violated due process because they permitted the jury to convict him of first-degree murder without a separate finding that he, rather than his co-conspirators, possessed a specific intent to kill. Appellate review of a charge must be based on an examination of the instruction in its entirety to determine whether it was fair or prejudicial. Commonwealth v. Ohle, 503 Pa. 566, 470 A.2d 61, 70 (1983), cert. denied, Ohle v. Pennsylvania, 474 U.S. 1083, 106 S.Ct. 854, 88 L.Ed.2d 894 (1986). Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Standard Jury Instructions, the trial court instructed the jurors that in order to convict a defendant of criminal conspiracy they must find beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted with the intent of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime. (N.T., 5/18/83, at 5983-84). The jurors were further instructed that to find that a defendant was in fact an accomplice, they must conclude that he acted with the intent of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime. ( Id. at 5993). The trial court then instructed the jury that in order to find the defendant guilty of murder of the first degree, you must find that the killing was a willful, deliberate, and premeditated act. You must ask yourselves the question, did the defendant have the willful, deliberate, premeditated specific intent to kill at the time of the killing? ( Id. at 6023-24 (spacing modified)). When the instructions are properly read as a whole, it is clear that the trial court correctly instructed the jury without violating the due process rights of Jones. In Commonwealth v. Huffman, 536 Pa. 196, 638 A.2d 961 (1994), we found this type of argument persuasive. However, this Court ultimately concludes, like the PCRA court below, that the instant claim is sufficiently distinguishable from Huffman and lacks merit. In Huffman, the trial court charged the jury as follows: Thus, in order to find a Defendant guilty of murder in the first degree, you must find that the Defendant caused the death of another person, or that an accomplice or co-conspirator caused the death of another person. That is, you must find that the Defendant's act or the act of an accomplice or co-conspirator is the legal cause of death of [the victim], and thereafter you must determine if the killing was intentional. Id. at 962 (alteration in original). In stark contrast to the Huffman instruction, in the case sub judice the instructions of the trial court stated: [Y]ou may find the defendant guilty of the crime without finding that he personally and individually performed the acts or engaged in the conduct required for the commission of that crime, or instances which are not here applicable so that I won't get into them. As stated, a defendant is guilty of the crime if he is an accomplice of another person who commits that crime. He is an accomplice if, with the intent of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime, he solicits, commands, encourages, or requests the other person to commit it, or aids, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other person in planning or committing it. What is meant by the words in this definition of accomplice with the intent of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime? This means that the intent or mental state of the defendant at the time he acted was to advance a criminal end or purpose. Bear in mind that mere physical presence at a crime scene without more does not make him an accomplice. Rather, the facts and circumstances must be closely examined in order to establish that the defendant through his words, acts, deeds or conduct became a partner in the criminal intent of the actual active perpetrator, and encourages or assists him or engages in comparable overt behavior. For a person to be an accomplice in the commission of a crime, he must be an active partner in the intent to commit it. That is, he must have prior knowledge of the criminal intent or criminal purpose of his accomplice or accomplices, and then counsel or participate in such a purpose. (N.T., 5/18/83, at 5992-94). Unlike the jury instructions in Huffman, here the trial court explained that a defendant must promote the occurrence of the crime. The trial court detailed that the defendant must have the mental state of advancing a criminal end, and further explained what acts were insufficient. The legally correct and well-explained instructions in the instant case make clear that the trial court did not err in giving these instructions. The jury was sufficiently aware of what was necessary in order to find Jones guilty of criminal conspiracy. As such, counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to challenge legally proper instructions. See Hall, supra.