McGinnis v. Commonwealth

I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because the jury was well within its right and duty to find that the wanton behavior of McGinnis amounted to extreme indifference to human life sufficient to convict him of wanton murder. The effort of the majority to fashion some kind of rule based on this case is without any merit. The so-*531called Shannon problem is not solved in any respect.

The majority opinion states that “self-protection is not a defense to criminal homicide where wantonness or recklessness constitutes the culpable mental state.” This is essentially the same language which…