Opinion ID: 1435796
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury Instruction on Inferences of Specific Intent to Kill

Text: For his fourth claim of ineffectiveness, Appellant maintains that the trial court gave an improper instruction concerning the malice element for first-degree murder. Specifically, Appellant claims that his trial counsel should have objected because the trial court directed the jury to draw an inference that Appellant had a specific intent to kill, if they found that he intended to use a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim's body. We do not adopt Appellant's portrayal of the instruction at issue. The pertinent text of the challenged charge follows: If you believe that the defendant intentionally used a deadly weapon on a vital part of a victim's body, you may regard that as an item of circumstantial evidence from which you may, if you decide, infer that the defendant had the specific intent to kill. That's why I defined for you before what I mean by inferring facts from circumstantial evidence and so on. The intent to kill may also be inferred from all of the surrounding circumstances. N.T., Sept. 30, 1991, at 1155 (emphasis added). To find a defendant guilty of first-degree murder, the jury must find that the Commonwealth proved beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) a human being was unlawfully killed; (2) the person accused did the killing; (3) the killing was done with malice aforethought; and (4) the killing was deliberate and premeditated. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(a), (d); Commonwealth v. Cox, 556 Pa. 368, 728 A.2d 923, 929 (1999); Commonwealth v. Marinelli, 547 Pa. 294, 690 A.2d 203, 211 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1024, 118 S.Ct. 1309, 140 L.Ed.2d 473 (U.S.Pa.1998). The element that distinguishes first-degree murder from all other degrees of murder is the intent to kill, i.e., the presence of a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(a), (d); Commonwealth v. Wilson, 543 Pa. 429, 672 A.2d 293, 297, cert. denied, 519 U.S. 951, 117 S.Ct. 364, 136 L.Ed.2d 255 (1996). It is well settled law in Pennsylvania that the Commonwealth may prove specific intent to kill by circumstantial evidence, and, therefore, a jury may infer the requisite malice to establish first-degree murder from the defendant's use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victim's body. Commonwealth v. Cox, 556 Pa. 368, 728 A.2d 923, 929 (1999); Commonwealth v. Hall, 549 Pa. 269, 701 A.2d 190, 196-97 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1082, 118 S.Ct. 1534, 140 L.Ed.2d 684 (1998); Commonwealth v. Rivers, 537 Pa. 394, 644 A.2d 710, 712 (1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1175, 116 S.Ct. 1270, 134 L.Ed.2d 217 (1996); Commonwealth v. McAndrews, 494 Pa. 157, 430 A.2d 1165, 1166 (1981); Commonwealth v. Murray, 460 Pa. 605, 334 A.2d 255, 257 (1975). Appellant offers no controlling and conflicting cases to suggest that our law precludes the use of inferences to find the specific intent of first-degree murder. The instruction by the trial court correctly articulated a manner in which the jury could determine whether Appellant possessed a specific intent to kill the victim. Again, although not controlling, the Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Criminal Jury Instructions offer a nearly identical instruction concerning the use of facts to infer a specific intent to kill. [17] Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Criminal Jury Instructions, § 15.2502(A)(5). Appellant's argument that our judicial system condemns the use of inferences for evaluating the degree of homicide is incorrect. Furthermore, contrary to Appellant's impression, we find nothing in the instruction of the trial court that the jurors could have interpreted as requiring them to draw an inference. See Commonwealth v. Karenbauer, 552 Pa. 420, 715 A.2d 1086, 1098 (1998), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ____, 119 S.Ct. 1258, 143 L.Ed.2d 354 (1999) (holding that instruction on inference of specific intent to kill did not usurp jury's role as fact finder). The trial court did not tell the jury that Appellant fired a gun into the victim's chest. Rather, the charge plainly announced that the jurors could infer a specific intent to kill, if they found the surrounding circumstances permitted such an inference. We find that the trial court did nothing to interfere with the jury's function as fact finder. Because Appellant's claim is without merit, trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to this instruction.