Commonwealth v. Williams

• Decision Date: 19 January 1973
• Citation: 450 Pa. 158,299 A.2d 643
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Thomas WILLIAMS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

299 A.2d 643

450 Pa. 158

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Thomas WILLIAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

January 19, 1973.

Abraham T. Needleman, Needleman, Needleman, Tabb & Eisman, Joel D Caney, Philadelphia, for appellant.

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

Before JONES, C.J., and EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

O'BRIEN Justice.

On September 3, 1970, appellant was engaged in a fight with one Otto Young, arising out of a dispute which occurred during a game of chance. Young left the scene of the fight in his automobile and was observed to be bleeding from a wound over his eye. A few minutes later, and a few blocks from the scene of the fight, Young lost consciousness and his automobile collided with a parked vehicle. The police transported him to a hospital, where he died on September 9, 1970, the cause of death being stab wounds of the abdomen and thorax, involving the heart. Appellant was charged with murder and elected to waive a jury trial. The Commonwealth certified that the crime rose no higher than second-degree murder, and, after a nonjury trial, appellant was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. His post-trial motions were denied, and he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than two nor more than six years. This appeal followed.

Appellant raises only one question in his appeal, asserting that the Commonwealth, as a matter of law, failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the crime of which he was convicted. In Commonwealth v. Lee, Pa., 299 A.2d 640 (1973), we said:

'In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we must carefully scrutinize the entire record, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Young, 446 Pa. 122, 123, 285 A.2d 499, 500 (1971); Johnson Appeal, 445 Pa. 270, 273, 284 A.2d 780, 781 (1971). The crucial inquiry is to determine whether, on the whole record, a finder of fact could reasonably have found all elements of second degree murder.

So viewing the evidence, the trial judge could quite properly have found that the above-described fight occurred at approximately 9:00 p.m., on September 3, 1970. When the fight ended, the victim was observed to be bleeding from a wound over his eye. In addition, he was observed to walk to his automobile, parked nearby. An eyewitness to the event described the victim as walking in a bent-over position, 'holding himself.' Another witness testified that he was sufficiently concerned about the condition of the victim that he accompanied him to the automobile. A third witness testified that he was sufficiently concerned about the victim's condition that he accompanied the victim when he drove away from the scene of the fight. The fight occurred at Thirteenth and Kater Streets in Philadelphia and the victim drove away north on Thirteenth Street. After the victim drove a few blocks, he passed out, and his car came to a stop against a parked car on Thirteenth Street. In response to a radio call, a Philadelphia police officer arrived at the scene and found the victim Lying in the front seat of the car with 'quite a bit of blood on his shirt,' and an unknown woman, identified as a nurse, applying pressure to the deceased's chest area to stop the flow of blood. The victim was transported to the Pennsylvania Hospital during which trip a member of the Philadelphia Fire Department Rescue Squad applied constant pressure to the chest wound with a towel. As above indicated, the victim died on September 9, 1970, at the Pennsylvania Hospital.

The physician who performed the postmortem examination testified that the death had been caused by a stab wound of the abdomen and a stab wound of the thorax, involving the heart. He further testified that he noted an injury to the right eye lid, which proved to be a cut of the cartilage portion of the right upper eye...