Opinion ID: 2279726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: penalty phase jury instructions

Text: Appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his request that the jury be instructed that the death penalty could only be imposed if the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the death penalty statute does not specify a fixed burden of proof for the weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(c)(1)(iv); Commonwealth v. Murphy, 540 Pa. 318, 335 n. 5, 657 A.2d 927, 935 n. 5 (1995); Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 66-67, 454 A.2d 937, 963 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983) (lack of fixed burden of proof in penalty phase of capital case is not unconstitutional). Appellant was therefore not entitled to an instruction which is not an accurate reflection of the law. Appellant's final claim of error is that the trial court erred in stating to the jury that it should have no difficulty writing in the aggravating circumstances in the space provided on the verdict slip. Appellant contends that this statement implied to the jury that aggravating circumstances existed. [23] In reviewing the propriety of jury instructions, the jury charge must be considered as a whole. Commonwealth v. Saunders, 529 Pa. 140, 144, 602 A.2d 816, 818 (1992). At the outset, appellant has once again misquoted the record. The actual statement was as follows: So then you go to Section A. There you will check death or life imprisonment. You already know from the instructions, if it's death, you have to complete B. If it's life imprisonment, you go and complete C. Let's assume for the sake of discussion  we'll do it both ways  if you choose death, one of the two circumstances that I've described is here or found. B. The findings on which the sentence of death are based are  either  1. At least one aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstance. And then you have to say, The aggravating circumstance unanimously found is or are  and you'll write them in, [Jury Foreman], just like they were written under Roman Numeral I-B-1. I realize there's only three lines in there. You'll squeeze it in, and you can go above it and below it. That's not a big deal. N.T. 4/22/94 at 182-83. This statement was made in the midst of six pages of jury instructions in which the trial court reviewed the entire verdict slip with the jury and explained how to fill it out properly. N.T. 4/22/94 at 179-84. The trial court then went on to instruct the jury on how to fill out the verdict slip if they determined that the appropriate sentence was life imprisonment. Given the context in which the statement was made and the thorough instructions on the proper method of recording either a death or life sentence, the statement by the trial court, taken completely out of context, was not improper.