Opinion ID: 1906630
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Testimony Regarding Use of Rock as Murder Instrument

Text: Appellant alleges that all previous counsel were ineffective in failing to prevent the Commonwealth from presenting testimony concerning the use of a rock in the murder of the victim. Appellant asserts that this Court's statement in our opinion on his direct appeal that [t]he nearest rocks were two hundred feet from the body and were similar to the rock used to strike the victim, Commonwealth v. Pursell, 508 Pa. 212, 219, 495 A.2d 183, 186 (1985), was erroneous, and that rocks similar to the one used to strike the victim could have been found nearer to the body. According to Appellant, the closer proximity between rocks similar to the one used to strike the victim and the body would have undermined the prosecution's case that the murder was premeditated, based on the distance the rock was carried preceding the striking of the victim. Appellant engages in pure speculation and conjecture concerning the proximity of slag rocks to the location of the murder, and is contradicted by the testimony of Officer Krahe concerning the presence of rocks at the scene. He offers no authority to explain why the Commonwealth should have been prevented from presenting testimony regarding the blood-covered rock, and we cannot find merit in a claim that the record clearly contradicts.