Opinion ID: 2555770
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Aggravating Circumstance of Killing While in the Perpetration of a Felony

Text: In Issue 10, Appellant argues that the jury's guilt-stage verdict of first-degree murder but not second-degree murder precluded the applicability of the aggravating factor of a killing while in the perpetration of a felony. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(6). [27] In other words, Appellant asserts that the jury's failure to find him guilty of second-degree murder precludes a penalty phase finding that the killing was committed during the perpetration of a felony. Appellant's Brief at 80-81. Appellant further asserts that counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this issue at trial, in post-trial motions, and on direct appeal. Id. at 82. As the Commonwealth points out, Appellant's argument ignores the trial court's explicit instructions to the jury that it could find one of four possible verdicts: not guilty, guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of second-degree murder, or guilty of third-degree murder. N.T. Trial, 5/15/96, at 1559, 1566, 1568. In denying Appellant's claim, the PCRA court held that the jury's verdict of first-degree murder did not constitute or equate to a finding of not guilty of second-degree murder. PCRA Court Supplemental Opinion, dated 8/7/08, at 2. The PCRA court also cited Commonwealth v. Walker, 540 Pa. 80, 656 A.2d 90, 100-01 (1995), in which this Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the death penalty statute grounded in the identity of the definitions of the 9711(d)(6) aggravating circumstance and of felony murder, a non-capital offense. We agree with the PCRA court and the Commonwealth. The jury found that Appellant was guilty of first-degree murder, an intentional killing. By no logic can the jury's verdict be considered a finding that Appellant did not commit the murder while perpetrating a felony, and thus was not guilty of second-degree murder. Appellant's assertions to the contrary are groundless; inconsistent with the law, see Walker, supra ; and unsupported by the record or the facts. Accordingly, there is no merit to Appellant's assertion that counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this issue.