# Commonwealth v. Cannon

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · September 19, 1973 · 453 Pa. 389

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9758175

## Case

- **Full name:** Commonwealth v. Cannon, Appellant
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** September 19, 1973
- **Citations:** 453 Pa. 389; 309 A.2d 384; 1973 Pa. LEXIS 685
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Pomeroy
- **Judges:** Ciuee, Jones, Eagen, O'Brien, Roberts, Pomeroy, Nix, Manderino, Boberts
- **Cited by:** 41 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/9758175

## Opinion text

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Pomeroy:
Appellant having made a timely request for an instruction on voluntary manslaughter, I must again note my disagreement with the law of this Commonwealth which allows the trial judge to decline to so charge because there has been no evidence introduced to support such a verdict. See, Commonwealth v. Kenney, 449 Pa. 562, 570 , 297 A. 2d 794 (1972) (Roberts, J., dissenting, joined by Pomeroy and Manderino, JJ.); Commonwealth v. Davis, 449 Pa. 468, 477, 479 , 297 A. 2d 817 (1972) (separate opinions in Opposition to Affirmance by Roberts and Pomeroy, JJ., joined by Manderino, J.); Commonwealth v. Banks, 447 Pa. 356, *401 364 , 285 A. 2d 506 (1971) (Pomeroy, J., dissenting, joined by Boberts, J.); Commonwealth v. Matthews, 446 Pa. 65, 78 , 285 A. 2d 510 (1971) (Pomeroy, J., dissenting, joined by Boberts, J.). As long as Pennsylvania law permits the jury to return a manslaughter verdict in such circumstances, the Fourteenth Amendment, as 1 view it, requires that a charge on that offense be either mandatory or totally interdicted: it should not be left to the unfettered discretion of the trial judge whether to charge or not. Until this Court chooses one or the other alternative, I believe the Constitution requires the charge to be given in all cases.
Mr. Justice Boberts and Mr Justice Manderino join in this dissenting opinion.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9758175. Public record. Not legal advice.