Opinion ID: 1440383
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Malice Self-defense

Text: Appellant's final claim of error regarding the guilt-phase jury instructions is that the trial court failed to instruct the jury that self-defense may negate malice, and that the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his actions were not in self-defense. Appellant has arguably pleaded each of the Pierce elements in contending that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this claim with the trial court. Appellant raises these specific concerns: No matter how the entirety of the closing argument is parsed, this Court never explained, using any language, that [(]2) That evidence of self-defense, from whatever source, tends to negate the malice required for murder; (3) That in order to meet its burden of proof on the element of malice, the prosecution must exclude self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. Appellant's Brief at 37 (quoting Commonwealth v. Heatherington, 477 Pa. 562, 385 A.2d 338, 341 (1978)) (internal quotation omitted). Our examination of the entire jury charge, however, reveals that Appellant's argument is completely without merit. The trial court issued the following instructions: (1) self-defense is a complete defense to the charge, N.T., 11/10/97, at 128; (2) the Commonwealth has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in justifiable self-defense, id. at 125 (emphasis added); and (3) because the Commonwealth has the burden of proving that the defendant did not act in self-defense you cannot find the defendant guilty unless you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in justifiable self-defense as I have defined it to you. Id. at 127-28. It is true that these instructions did not specifically identify malice as that element which self-defense would specifically negate. Nonetheless, it defies logic that Appellant could have incurred prejudice when the trial court instructed that the Commonwealth must disprove Appellant's claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, and further that self-defense is a complete defense to the overall charge of murder. Simply put, if the Commonwealth failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant's actions were not in self-defense, then the jury could not find him guilty of the overall charge of murder, thus rendering the effect of self-defense on malice irrelevant. Accordingly, there was no reason for trial counsel to object to these instructions. See Marinelli, supra ; ( Darrick) Hall, supra .