Court Opinion

ID: 9643528
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:32:07.564637+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:27:53.009729
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
Although the majority opinion correctly states the law pertaining to Simmons instructions, I dissent. There can be no harm in instructing juries that in Pennsylvania appellant would be statutorily ineligible for parole if sentenced to life in prison, but that a life sentence may nonetheless be commuted by the governor. Without such an instruction, on the other hand, a jury might erroneously believe that a prisoner sentenced to life could be paroled within a period of years and therefore impose the death penalty for reasons which are not based in law. I would mandate a Simmons instruction, explaining what a life sentence means in Pennsylvania, in every death penalty case. Therefore, I would vacate the sentence of death and remand for a new sentencing hearing.