Barker v. Commonwealth
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree manslaughter. The Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the language of the provocation qualification in the jury instructions was patently erroneous. On remand, a circuit court jury again convicted Defendant of second-degree manslaughter. Defendant appealed, and the Commonwealth cross-appealed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court erred by giving the provocation qualification to self-protection instruction because it was not supported by the evidence, and the error was not harmless; and (2) the trial court deviated from the guidelines found in the Court’s criminal rules in seating the jury, but the deviation was not substantial.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.