Commonwealth v. Smith, 97 A.3d 782

Feb. 29, 2012, late-night altercation on Aldine St., Kedra and Appellant confront each other after Kedra moves his car; Kedra is stabbed multiple times with a box cutter and sustains serious injuries.
Box cutter is recovered; Appellant admits having used it; Kedra identifies Appellant as aggressor; trial evidence includes officers, medical records, photos, and a 911 tape.
Trial court, sitting without a jury, found Appellant guilty of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime, and imposed five years’ probation.
Appellant testified self-defense but was found not credible; the court concluded Appellant unreasonably escalated the encounter and did not reasonably believe imminent danger.
Appellant timely appealed raising burden-of-proof and sufficiency challenges to self-defense; the Superior Court affirmed the judgment.
The court applied correct self-defense standards and did not shift the burden to Appellant; convictions and sentence were affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court misapplied burden of proof in self-defense	Smith argues the court shifted the burden to prove self-defense	Commonwealth argues self-defense burden stayed with Commonwealth to disprove	No improper burden shift; standards correctly applied
Whether the evidence suffices to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt	Smith claims insufficient evidence to negate self-defense given weight disparity and night time	Commonwealth contends testimony supported lack of reasonable belief in imminent danger	Evidence supports trial court’s finding that self-defense was unreasonably used and not justified

Commonwealth v. Hammond, 953 A.2d 544 (Pa. Super. 2008) (burden on Commonwealth to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt)
Commonwealth v. Torres, 764 A.2d 342 (Pa. 2001) (no burden on defendant to prove self-defense; some evidence triggers issue)
Commonwealth v. McClendon, 874 A.2d 1223 (Pa. Super. 2005) (burden rests with Commonwealth once self-defense claim properly raised)
Commonwealth v. Barnswell Jones, 874 A.2d 108 (Pa. Super. 2005) (sufficiency standard; circumstantial evidence allowed)
Commonwealth v. Bullock, 948 A.2d 818 (Pa. Super. 2008) (disbelieving defendant’s self-defense testimony not alone proof of lack of self-defense)
Commonwealth v. Reynolds, 835 A.2d 720 (Pa. Super. 2003) (jury may assess credibility and reject some or all of defendant’s self-defense claim)
Commonwealth v. Mouzon, 617 Pa. 527, 53 A.3d 738 (2012) (defines two-part reasonable belief for self-defense (subjective belief and objective reasonableness))
Commonwealth v. Hale/Hill, 629 A.2d 949 (Pa. Super. 1993) (discusses factors in assessing reasonableness of deadly force)
Commonwealth v. Dent, 837 A.2d 571 (Pa. Super. 2003) (trial court is presumed to know the law and apply burdens correctly)