Commonwealth v. Tharp

OPINION

NIGRO, Justice.

At issue in this appeal is whether the November 3, 1998 amendment to Article I, Section 6 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which essentially provides the Commonwealth with the same right to a trial by jury as the defendant, is constitutional. For the reasons discussed below, we find that the amendment is constitutional and therefore, affirm.

Appellants Michelle Sue Tharp and Douglas Bittinger allegedly starved Tharp’s seven year-old daughter to death, dumped the child’s body in a garbage bin, and reported her missing to the police. On June 30,1998, both Appellants were…