Callahan v. Commonwealth

Opinion

COLEMAN, J.

Joseph Carrington Callahan, Jr. appeals his convictions for arson and the willful destruction of personal property. Callahan contends: (1) the trial court erred in allowing a deputy fire marshal to testify that the fire was incendiary; (2) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Callahan’s past violent acts against his wife and daughter; and (3) the trial court erred by permitting the Commonwealth’s attorney to request in closing argument that the jury consider Callahan’s past mistreatment of his wife in determining sentence. We find that the trial court erred by…