Court Opinion

ID: 9702966
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:34:57.922836+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:44.261745
License: Public Domain

*445LARSEN, Justice,
concurring.
I join in the opinion of the majority. However, I would go further than the majority and hold that all manslaughter charges “shall be given only when requested, where the offense has been made an issue in the case, and the trial evidence reasonably would support such a verdict.” The rule that a trial court should instruct the jury only on legal principles which apply to the facts presented at trial so that the jury may render a true and correct verdict should apply with equal force to all types of manslaughter. Cf. Commonwealth v. White, 490 Pa. 179, 415 A.2d 399 (1980) (rule applied to instruction on involuntary manslaughter); Commonwealth v. Williams, 490 Pa. 187, 415 A.2d 403 (1980) (rule applied to instruction on involuntary manslaughter).
McDERMOTT, J., joins this concurring opinion.