Pennsylvania v. Miller (majority)
Annotate this CaseAppellee Antoine Miller brutally murdered Wallace Bivens in his home, then stole his car. Appellee was arrested later that evening after police noticed him driving the car without headlights. Appellee then engaged in a high-speed chase. Appellee was charged with multiple Motor Vehicle Code violations, and police impounded the car. While attempting to serve an eviction notice on the victim, a state constable discovered the victim's decaying body in the living room closet of his apartment. Appellee was later apprehended and charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, theft, and a host of other crimes. Appellee was found guilty of second-degree murder, theft by unlawful taking, and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, and acquitted of first-degree murder, robbery, aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime.Appellant appealed to the Superior Court, contending that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his second-degree murder conviction because he had been acquitted of the predicate offense of robbery. The Superior Court reversed Appellee's second-degree murder conviction and vacated his judgment of sentence. The question presented for the Supreme Court's review implicated the issue of inconsistent verdicts in the context of a second-degree murder conviction. Because the Superior Court erroneously concluded that a jury's verdict of guilt on a second-degree murder charge and its acquittal on the predicate felony of robbery were impermissibly inconsistent and could not stand, the Court vacated the Superior Court's order.
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