Opinion ID: 2313776
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Trial Court Instruction on Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

Text: Appellant next claims that the trial court erred by issuing a defective penalty phase instruction to the jury. Appellant contends that the instruction was disjointed, confusing, and impossible for a reasonable person to understand. Considering the charge as a whole, appellant argues that the jurors likely concluded that, before they could weigh a mitigating circumstance, they must unanimously agree that the mitigating circumstance existed. Appellant also avers that the charge failed to adequately stress that different burdens of proof attach to aggravating and mitigating circumstances. [18] Finally, appellant finds fault with the length of the jury instructions, stating that [i]t should not take twenty-seven pages of instructions to explain to a jury how to determine the aggravating and mitigating circumstances[.] Appellant's Brief at 51. In response, the Commonwealth argues that this claim is waived due to appellant's failure to object to the charge at the conclusion of the trial court's instructions. See Pa.R.A.P. 302(a). A review of the record once again shows that the Commonwealth is correct: appellant did not object to the instruction despite the trial court's invitation to counsel to make any additions or corrections. N.T., 11/28/00, at 66. The absence of a contemporaneous objection below constitutes a waiver of appellant's current claim respecting the trial court's instructions. Pa.R.A.P. 302(a). Therefore, the claim is defaulted. To the extent appellant would raise the claim as one sounding in counsel ineffectiveness, we will address it in our examination of Claim IX, below.