# Commonwealth v. Cox

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · December 22, 2004 · 581 Pa. 107

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9692167

## Case

- **Full name:** COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Russell COX, Appellant
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** December 22, 2004
- **Citations:** 581 Pa. 107; 863 A.2d 536; 2004 Pa. LEXIS 3188
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Nigro
- **Judges:** Cappy, Castille, Nigro, Newman, Saylor, Eakin, Baer
- **Cited by:** 66 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9692167

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding the petitioner “has failed to demonstrate that he was prejudiced by the failure of trial counsel to object to the jury instruction regarding reasonable doubt. [The defendant] has not shown that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s alleged error, hi…
- rejecting the petitioner’s claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an erroneous reasonable doubt instruction where the petitioner failed to establish “a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s alleged error, his verdict would have been different”
- holding that "[ijmposition of the death penalty requires a unanimous jury. The entire jury must find aggravating circumstances unanimously.”
- holding that jury instructions must be read as a whole to support a claim of error, not in separate portions

## Opinion text

DISSENTING OPINION
Justice NIGRO.
I dissent, as I agree with Justice Saylor that Appellant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the trial court’s instructions as to vicarious criminal liability.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9692167. Public record. Not legal advice.