rejecting Appellant’s claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the charge informing the jury that it could infer malice from the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim’s body because such instruction is “consistent with long-standing jurisprudence of this Court”
How later courts described this case
- rejecting Appellant’s claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the charge informing the jury that it could infer malice from the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim’s body because such instruction is “consistent with long-standing jurisprudence of this Court”
- “reasonable doubt” is one that would “cause a prudent, careful and sensible person to pause, hesitate, restrain himself or herself before acting upon a matter of the highest importance in his or her affairs”
- Court evaluates jury charge to determine whether it is accurate and clear statement of law; charge is read and considered in its entirety, and its general effect controls
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
NIGRO, Justice,
concurring.
I join in the majority opinion, but write separately to comment on Appellant’s claim concerning the trial court’s charge to the jury on the meaning of “reasonable doubt”. As noted by the majority, the trial court informed the jury that all they could do was determine what “probably happened”. Like the majority, I appreciate the fact that the trial court was attempting to explain to the jury that because they were not actually present during the commission of the crime, they could not know with absolute certainty exactly what happened. However, I cannot condone any language in a jury charge that suggests to the jury that they need not find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict him of the crimes charged. By injecting language such as “probably happened” into a jury charge on the meaning of “reasonable doubt”, a trial court necessarily risks diluting the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. Nevertheless, because I agree with the majority that the trial court’s charge in the instant case, as a whole, adequately instructed the jury on the meaning of “reasonable doubt”, I agree that the Appellant’s ineffectiveness claim does not entitle him to relief.