Commonwealth v. Shults

• Decision Date: 25 May 1908
• Docket Number: 83
• Citation: 221 Pa. 466,70 A. 823
• Parties: Commonwealth v. Shults, Appellant
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

70 A. 823

221 Pa. 466

Commonwealth v. Shults, Appellant

No. 83

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

May 25, 1908

Argued March 23, 1908

Appeal, No. 83, Jan. T., 1908, by defendant, from judgment of O. & T. Phila. Co., June T., 1907, No. 175, on verdict of murder of the first degree in case of Commonwealth v. Francis Marion Shults. Affirmed.

Indictment for murder.

The opinion of the Supreme Court states the case.

Verdict of guilty of murder of the first degree, upon which sentence was passed.

Error assigned was portion of charge, quoted in the opinion of the Supreme Court.

Judgment affirmed, and record remitted to the court of oyer and terminer for the purpose of execution.

Sidney L. Krauss, with him William A. Carr and W. Horace Hepburn for appellant.

Wm. Findlay Brown, assistant district attorney, with him Samuel P. Rotan, district attorney, for appellee.

Before MITCHELL, C.J., FELL, BROWN, MESTREZAT, POTTER, ELKIN and STEWART, JJ.

OPINION

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE MITCHELL:

The only assignments of error that need be noticed are those relating to the evidence of the experts as to insanity, and these are practically all condensed in the exception to that portion of the charge in which the judge said to the jury: "We will now come to the medical testimony. I will say to you on that score that you are not bound to decide this case according to the views of the doctors one way or the other. The doctors are not the jury. They cannot take the stand and say such and such is the case and then decide the case. Although you have been told that you are bound by the evidence, or as much of it as you believe, when you come to medical testimony or any other expert testimony, that is merely opinion testimony. It may be of value and it may be of no value, just as it appeals to you. One side puts an expert on the stand and he gives his opinion, and the other side puts an expert on the stand and you get the opinion of that doctor. They are both cross-examined, and it is for you to decide in considering all their evidence, whether you will be guided to any degree by their opinions, whether you think they are worthy of any consideration or whether you think they are not worthy of consideration at all. If you think they are worthy of consideration you will decide how much they are worth and how much you will give to them, judging by the examinations and cross-examinations and the whole probabilities of the testimony as applied to the facts as you find them. If you consider the testimony cannot do you any particular good, you will dismiss it, but whether you will dismiss it or not, is entirely a matter for you, and what effect you will give to it is also a matter for you."

The law as laid down in this passage, even taking it as it is, separated from its context is entirely accurate. "The jury are not bound to decide this case according to the views of the doctors one way or the other." That is correct. "It may be of value or it may be of no value, just as it appeals to you . . . it is for you to decide whether they are worthy of any consideration or whether they are not worthy of consideration at all, and if you think they are worthy of consideration you will decide how much they are worth and how much you will give to them." This is no more than telling the jury that the credibility of the testimony and the weight it is entitled to in reaching a verdict is exclusively for the jury to determine. That is the settled law of all the cases. And even if we seem to see in the phrasing of the charge that the judge did not think the testimony of much weight, that was not error. He might have gone further and told the jury in explicit terms that he considered it "very weak:" Com. v. Van Horn, 188 Pa. 143. So long as the jury were left in the free exercise of their own judgment there was no error. That the jury in this case were so left is beyond question. Even the particular passage excepted to, concluded with the words, "whether you will dismiss it or not is entirely a matter for you, and what effect you will give it is also a matter for you."

So far the passage of the charge excepted to has been considered by itself, apart from its context. But that is not the rule. The charge can only be considered fairly as a whole, and the charge in the present case repeatedly and most explicitly told the jury that the weight and effect of the testimony on every branch of the case was for them to decide on their own judgment.

The killing was admitted, and even the premeditation, the deliberate preparation for the murder, was not denied. The only possible point of doubt in the case arose from the apparent absence of any sane motive for the act. This was altogether a question for the jury, and if they took a severe view it was not from any error of the judge.

Judgment affirmed, and record remitted to the court of oyer and terminer for the purpose of execution.

DISSENT BY: MESTREZAT

MR JUSTICE MESTREZAT, dissenting:

I would sustain the assignments of error, so far as they allege inadequacy in the charge of the court on the question of insanity. I am convinced that the charge in this respect was insufficient, and to a certain extent misleading, and that the case was not submitted to the jury in accordance with the law as determined by this court. In Pannell v Commonwealth, 86 Pa. 260, the defense was insanity. As here, the trial judge seemed to regard the testimony of medical experts as of little or no value. There was a verdict of guilty of murder of the first degree. In reversing the judgment this court said, inter alia (p. 269): "It is well settled that the knowledge and experience of medical experts is of great value in questions of insanity. They are like those of experts in all other branches of science and of art. Evidence had been given of the observation, experience and skill of these medical experts, sufficient to enable them to form intelligent opinions, and they had testified to those opinions. We cannot understand on what principle the learned judge said to the jury that in this case he questioned very much whether they would realize much, if any, valuable aid from their testimony. True, the jury were not bound to adopt the conclusions of the experts, yet they should have been instructed to give a careful consideration to the testimony of those who had made the diseases of the human mind a special study. In a former part of the charge the jury was told that 'great respect should be paid to the opinion of that class of witnesses,' followed by other remarks equally correct. Yet, when the court came to apply the testimony to the case trying, its effect was almost destroyed. We see no especial circumstances in this case to justify taking from the evidence of these medical witnesses that consideration to which the testimony of experts is generally entitled." The doctrine announced in this case has never been doubted or overruled by this court. It is unquestionably sound, and should be followed in all cases where the defense is insanity. The testimony of medical experts is frequently, and sometimes the only, testimony upon which a defendant must rely to support the defense of insanity. Who can know so well the action or operation of the human mind as the medical expert who has made it a special study and matter of assiduous inquiry? He is universally recognized as the most competent to speak on the subject, and hence it is that in our system of jurisprudence his testimony is to be given very careful consideration by the jury where the defense is insanity. This being true, it devolves upon the trial court to explain to the jury the character of such testimony and the weight to be given to it. This is a duty incumbent upon the trial judge, and a failure to perform it...