Com. v. Hess, A., Com. v. Hess, A. No. 915 EDA 2016

Appellant Andrew Robert Hess was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing his friend Richard Parker to death at Parker’s garage during a late-night confrontation; jury returned guilty verdict and court imposed mandatory life sentence.
Relationship context: Hess had been romantically involved with Jessica Drake; Parker later became involved with Drake, creating animosity between Hess and Parker.
Events: On July 11, 2014, Hess went to the garage uninvited; an altercation occurred after Parker answered the door; Parker sustained multiple stab wounds including a fatal stab to the back and had defensive wounds.
Physical evidence: Hess had blood on his clothing and an injured lip; a 12-inch serrated hunting knife used in the killing was recovered from a nearby pond.
Hess claimed self-defense at trial, testifying Parker grabbed and strangled him and he stabbed while trying to escape; prosecution introduced evidence that Parker was naked, asleep, unarmed, and stabbed in the back as he attempted to flee.
Post-trial: Hess filed post-sentence motions challenging sufficiency and weight of evidence and requested an involuntary manslaughter jury instruction; both were denied and Hess appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Commonwealth)	Defendant's Argument (Hess)	Held
Sufficiency to disprove self-defense	Evidence shows Hess stabbed an unarmed, sleeping Parker and thus disproves self-defense beyond reasonable doubt	Physical and forensic evidence inside garage and defensive wounds support Hess’s claim he acted in self-defense	Commonwealth met burden; evidence sufficient to disprove self-defense
Failure to instruct on involuntary manslaughter	No reasonable evidentiary basis for manslaughter instruction because evidence shows intentional stabbing, not recklessness or gross negligence	Trial counsel requested instruction; evidence and Hess’s denial of intent could support involuntary manslaughter verdict	Trial court did not err in refusing the instruction; instruction not supported by evidence

Commonwealth v. Diggs, 949 A.2d 873 (Pa. 2008) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Commonwealth v. Mouzon, 53 A.3d 738 (Pa. 2012) (self-defense requires honest belief and objective reasonableness)
Commonwealth v. Rivera, 983 A.2d 1211 (Pa. 2009) (Commonwealth must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt)
Commonwealth v. Harris, 703 A.2d 441 (Pa. 1997) (elements of self-defense)
Commonwealth v. Brown, 911 A.2d 576 (Pa. Super. 2006) (jury charge is adequate unless it palpably misleads or omits fundamental matters)
Commonwealth v. Patton, 936 A.2d 1170 (Pa. Super. 2007) (court should instruct only where the offense is an issue and evidence supports it)
Commonwealth v. Hairston, 84 A.3d 657 (Pa. 2014) (involuntary manslaughter instruction requires evidence supporting reckless or grossly negligent causation)
Commonwealth v. Smith, 513 A.2d 1371 (Pa. 1986) (inference of intent vs. negligence for manslaughter instruction)