Campbell v. Commonwealth

ON REHEARING EN BANC

Opinion

BENTON, J.

This Court granted a rehearing en banc from a divided panel decision solely to determine whether the “ends of justice” exception to Rule 5A:18 should be invoked because an erroneous jury instruction may have deprived Joseph Hugh Campbell of a fair trial. Since a proper description of the elements *990of the offense was vital to ensure a fair trial, we hold that the “ends of justice” exception should be applied and we reverse the conviction. We leave unchanged the panel’s disposition of other issues originally raised on appeal. See Campbell v. Commonwealth, 13…