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Commonwealth v. Carter

Citations

  • 466 A.2d 1328
  • 502 Pa. 433
  • 1983 Pa. LEXIS 676

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • holding that a voluntary manslaughter charge is appropriate only when that crime is made an issue in the case, and evidence would support such a verdict
  • recognizing that, an “unreasonable belief” - 17 - J-A22027-23 voluntary manslaughter jury instruction may confuse the jury and invite them to return a guilty verdict based on whim and caprice
  • recognizing that, the - 11 - J-A22027-23 unconditional requirement that an “unreasonable belief” voluntary manslaughter instruction be provided “only serves to confuse juries and invite them to base their verdicts on whim and caprice”
  • holding where evidence does not support finding of manslaughter, trial court need not submit issue to jury
  • concluding the trial court properly refused to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter “unreasonable belief” as there was no evidence to support a verdict on that charge
  • defendant not entitled to unreasonable belief voluntary manslaughter instruction where no evidence supported such charge

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Hutchinson, Roberts, Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, McDermott

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

43 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

14 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.