Opinion ID: 1516216
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trial Court's Instructions on Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances [45]

Text: According to appellant, the trial court violated the Eighth Amendment when it instructed the jury that aggravating and mitigating circumstances are factors that make a murder case more or less terrible. Appellant declares that the trial court's instruction prevented the jury from thinking of him as an individual, by limiting the jury to considering circumstances only related to the crime, and that this erroneous instruction was compounded by the prosecutor's argument that the jury should not consider sympathy during its deliberations. He also accuses the prosecutor of telling the jury to ignore mitigating factors. Again, appellant attaches his grievances with the trial court's instruction to a boilerplate claim of layered counsel ineffectiveness, claiming his prior counsel should have objected to the trial court's incorrect instructions. The Commonwealth counters that appellant's claim is invalid under settled law. Likewise, the PCRA court found no error with the trial court's instruction. Addressing arguments similar to those appellant raises here, this Court has approved of the instructions given by the trial court in this case. Commonwealth v. Spotz, 587 Pa. 1, 896 A.2d 1191, 1246-47 (2006); Commonwealth v. Johnson, 572 Pa. 283, 815 A.2d 563, 587-88 (2002); Commonwealth v. Stevens, 559 Pa. 171, 739 A.2d 507, 527 (1999). Furthermore, appellant overlooks the trial court's instruction to the jury, regarding the catchall mitigating circumstance, that it should consider all the mitigating evidence that appellant presented at the penalty phase and throughout the trial. N.T. 7/18/1995 at 20. In doing so, the trial court gave the jury permission to look at all record-based factors regarding appellant's life. Finally, we reject appellant's unsupported argument that the prosecutor told the jury to ignore mitigating evidence or that it should not consider mitigating circumstances during its deliberations. Appellant's claim is unworthy of relief.