Commonwealth v. Pacito
Commonwealth v. Pacito
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Appellant shot and killed the deceased for whose murder he was conyicted. Pacito in the evening came to the boarding house in which Rizzi, the murdered man, was eating his supper; called him to the front door, drew a revolver and fired three shots, all of which took effect, resulting in almost instant death. He then ran away and while attempting to make his escape threw the revolver into a graveyard. The manner of the shooting and the acts of appellant indicate malice, deliberation and premeditation. The killing was willful and brutal and unless excused by the plea of insanity set up as a defense, the crime committed was clearly murder of the first degree. The jury so found and the evidence is ample to sustain the verdict. It must be sustained unless there was. reversible error in the submission of the case. The first assignment is without substantial merit and need not be discussed. . The admission of the evidence complained of could not have done appellant any harm and certainly does not constitute reversible error. The second assignment relates 'to certain portions of the charge of the trial judge. It is argued that the language used was tantamount to binding instructions for a verdict of first degree murder and that it was in the nature of a comment upon the failure of defendant to take the stand as a witness. We do not so read nor understand the language used. To give it such an interpretation it would be necessary to. read into the charge words not used or to give the words used a meaning not intended. It would also mean
The third and fourth assignments relate to the charge of the court on the question of insanity. It is not what the court said that is made the subject of complaint but what was left unsaid. The error alleged is that the trial judge failed to instruct the jury as to delusional insanity which was the specific form of mania relied on as a defense. In the charge insanity was said to be divisible into three general kinds or forms, that is, where the accused party did not know what he was doing; that he did not know the difference between right and wrong; or, that he was moved by an insane impulse, impossible of resistance, to commit the act. All that was said on the general subject of insanity, was clearly within the rule as laid down in our cases, but it is true no reference was made to the alleged fact that the defendant was afflicted with delusions of persecution leading him to imagine that many individuals were endeavoring to kill him and that as a result of these delusions he believed the deceased was about to kill him on the day of the shooting. This was the defense set up and several witnesses testified to facts from which such inferences might be drawn. But appellant had the full benefit of this defense in the argument
The sixth assignment raises the question whether error was committed in not specifically charging that the commonwealth having proved the killing, the law presumes the homicide to be murder, but that this presumption rises no higher than murder of the second degree. In homicide cases the burden is on the commonwealth to prove the necessary facts to raise the degree of the crime from murder of the second degree to murder of the first degree. In the case at bar the facts shown by the testimony are clearly sufficient for this purpose, if the appellant was of sane mind and knew what he was doing. The learned trial judge did charge that, “in order to raise the crime of murder from the second to the first degree, it is the duty of the commonwealth to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a willful, deliberate and premeditated killing.” This followed moré definite
A careful review of the whole record has convinced us that the appellant had a fair and impartial trial. He was represented by able and experienced counsel who defended him with skill and intelligence. His cause has been argued with marked ability here but notwithstanding all that has been pressed upon us by his counsel we fail to discover any error that would warrant a reversal with a venire. The facts were for the jury and the verdict is amply sustained by the evidence.
Judgment affirmed and record remitted in order that execution may be had according to law.
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- Criminal law — Murder — Evidence —■ Malice — Premeditation — Insanity. 1. A conviction of murder of the first degree will be sustained where the evidence, apart from any proof of the prisoner’s insanity, shows that the prisoner went in the evening to the house in which the murdered man was eating his supper, called him to the front door, drew a revolver, fired three shots all of which took effect, resulting in almost instant death, and that he then ran off, and while attempting to make his escape, threw his revolver into a graveyard. 2. Where on the trial of an indictment for murder the trial judge in his charge first calls the attention of the jury to the contentions of the commonwealth, and immediately explains that the case of the commonwealth must be considered in connection with the defense of insanity set up by the prisoner, and then takes up the contentions of the prisoner, what is said in the charge relating to the commonwealth’s case must be considered in connection with the instructions as to insanity and the instructions as to the prisoner’s contentions. 3. Where, upon the trial of an indictment for murder, the charge covers the general rules of law applicable to the defense of insanity, an omission to charge specifically on the subject of.delusions, with which the prisoner is alleged to have been afflicted, is not ground for reversing a conviction, where the record shows that no request was made at the trial for more definite instructions as to such delusions. Criminal law — Murder—Degree of murder. 4. On the trial of an indictment for murder the trial judge cannot be charged with insufficiently instructing the jury as to the degrees, where he points out the distinction between the two degrees and specifically states that the burden is upon the commonwealth to show a deliberate intent to take life before the crime could be raised from murder of the second to the first degree. 5. Under such circumstances the failure of the trial judge, when no request is made to so charge, to instruct the jury that the killing having been proved, the law presumes a murder no higher than of the second degree, is not reversible error. The facts and not the presumptions control.