Court Opinion

ID: 9711248
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:27:26.124262+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:23:39.180647
License: Public Domain

*256MANDERINO, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. When the trial court failed to charge the jury on the penalty for voluntary manslaughter after defining the penalties for first, second, and third degree murder, the jury could reasonably infer that the trial judge did not believe that a verdict of voluntary manslaughter would be appropriate. It is true that the statute only requires a judge to instruct that jury as to the penalties for first, second, and third degree murder. But here the jury was unaware of the fact that the only reason they were not given the penalty for voluntary manslaughter was that it was not required by statute. Therefore, the jury was free to infer that it would not even be appropriate to consider voluntary manslaughter as a reasonable finding of guilt. Trial counsel should have requested an additional charge and by failing to do so was ineffective.