Com. v. Wilson

• Citation: 449 Pa. 235,296 A.2d 719
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Norwood WILSON, Appellant.
• Decision Date: 17 November 1972
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Page 719

296 A.2d 719

449 Pa. 235

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Norwood WILSON, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Nov. 17, 1972.

Benjamin Lerner, Andrew D. Steiner, Philadelphia, for appellant

Arlen Specter, Dist. Atty., Richard A. Sprague, 1st Asst. Dist. Atty., James D. Crawford, Deputy Dist. Atty., Milton M. Stein, Chief, Appeals Div., David R. Scott, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for appellee.

Before EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.

OPINION

NIX, Justice.

The Honorable Robert W. Williams, Jr., sitting without a jury, found appellant guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter, but not guilty of Murder or Involuntary Manslaughter. On April 22, 1971, Appellant's Motions in Arrest of Judgment and for a New Trial were denied and he was sentenced to eighteen months to five years imprisonment. This appeal follows.

The sole question raised is whether the evidence presented was sufficient to support the verdict. The trial judge made the following findings of fact:

'On April 3, 1970, the (appellant) entered the Carnival Bar at 40th and Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia at about 12:00 P.M. He had followed two friends of his, Bruce Reese and Eldridge Johnson, into the bar.

'Before Wilson could rejoin his friends, who had taken seats at the far end of the bar, he was invited by the deceased, Lawrence Wyatt, to have a drink with him. Wyatt then ordered two drinks, one for himself and one for Wilson. However, Wilson decided to consume both drinks himself. This precipitated an argument over who was going to pay for the beverages. This argument escalated into a physical fight with Wyatt striking Wilson and Wilson throwing a chair at Wyatt.

'At that point, one of the (appellant's) friends, Bruce Reese, ran over to join in the fray. Reese was soon followed by the (appellant's) other friend, Eldridge Johnson. The fight had reached a point where Reese, Johnson and the (appellant) Wilson all were beating Wyatt on the barroom floor.

'The bartender, Mr. Joseph Stallings, attempted to stop the fight. He grabbed the (appellant) Wilson and pinned him against the bar. But while Wilson was pinned against the bar, Eldridge Johnson stabbed Lawrence Wyatt with a knife and inflicted the wounds which caused the latter's death. There was no evidence that Norwood Wilson himself had any weapon.' (Findings of Fact from pp. 1--2 of the Lower Court's Opinion dated June 16, 1971).

It is established beyond question that the wounds causing death of the victim were inflicted by one other than the appellant and therefore, criminal responsibility can only attach to the appellant through some theory of vicarious liability. All theories that are recognized under our law to hold one responsible for the criminal acts of another require the existence of a shared criminal intent. It is well settled that the nexus which renders all members of a criminal conspiracy responsible for the acts of any of its members is the unlawful agreement. Commonwealth v. Yobbagy, 410 Pa. 172, 177, 188 A.2d 750, 752, (1963); Commonwealth v. Neff, 407 Pa. 1, 7, 179 A.2d 630, 632, (1962); Commonwealth v. Kirk, 340 Pa. 346, 17 A.2d 195 (1941), aff'g 141 Pa.Super. 123, 14 A.2d 914 (1940); Commonwealth v. Richardson, 229 Pa. 609, 79 A. 222 (1911), aff'g 42 Pa.Super. 337 (1910). It is equally as clear that this element of shared criminal intent must be found to be present to justify a finding that an accused was an accomplice. Commonwealth v. Lowry, 374 Pa. 594, 600, 98 A.2d 733, 736 (1953) cert. denied, 347 U.S. 914, 74 S.Ct. 479, 98 L.Ed. 1070 (1954); Commonwealth v. Thomas, 357 Pa. 68, 72, 53 A.2d 112, 114 (1947); Commonwealth v. Doris, 287 Pa. 547, 135 A. 313 (1926).

Here, the Commonwealth has not produced a scintilla of evidence to establish that the appellant shared a...