Court Opinion

ID: 9705802
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:21:34.718003+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:15.644927
License: Public Domain

Nolan, J.
(dissenting, with whom Liacos, J., joins). A fundamental proposition of our system of criminal justice is that a defendant cannot be convicted of a crime absent a proper instruction to the jury on the elements of the crime with which he stands charged. The duty to instruct properly falls on the trial judge. Commonwealth v. Porter, 10 Met. 263, 285-286 (1845). An essential element of the crime of murder is proof of malice aforethought. One who kills another, either with the intent to kill or with the intent to injure, is not necessarily *111guilty of murder, for there may be factors of excuse, justification, or palliation present. “Malice, in the definition of murder, is imputed to an act done wilfully, malo anima, an act wrong in itself, injurious to another, and for which there is no apparent justification or excuse. Such justification or excuse must depend on the existence of facts; and such facts must be proved and found, in order to be the basis of any judicial decision.” (Emphasis in original.) Commonwealth v. York, 9 Met. 93, 104 (1845). See Commonwealth v. Mangum, 357 Mass. 76, 85 (1970). The court admits that no valid definition of malice aforethought was given; yet it affirms the conviction because it views the erroneous charge as unduly favorable to the defendant. The court misses the point. The point is that nowhere in the charge given was there a valid definition of murder, either in the first or second degree. The fact that the judge instructed on premeditation is irrelevant, since such a factor is only a distinguishing one between the degrees of murder. Commonwealth v. Hicks, 356 Mass. 442, 444 (1969). Premeditation is not an essential element of the crime of murder; premeditation relates only to the degree of murder. Hence, the jury were given no guidelines to determine the first question: Was there a murder? The question of the degree of murder cannot be addressed until a murder is shown. “This failure to define one of the elements of the offense charged required the jury to speculate in reaching its decision. The jury could not determine, without knowing what malice meant in the context of this case, whether the Commonwealth had carried its burden of establishing the existence of this element beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Niziolek, 380 Mass. 513, 527 (1980) (malice as a necessary element of the crime of arson). I cannot agree that allowing a jury to speculate on the essential elements of a crime charged is nonprejudicial. Accordingly, I dissent.