Trent v. Commonwealth

HAYES, Chief Judge.

Earl Trent was convicted in December of 1979 of second degree assault for shooting a *387man named Shaun Mitchell with a shotgun. On appeal he argues that the jury was improperly selected, the court should have given an instruction on third degree assault, and the prosecutor’s closing argument was unfairly prejudicial.

A panel of twenty-five prospective jurors was seated and examined as a group. The court announced that after counsel exercised their strikes the top twelve remaining on the panel would become the jury. This method is practically identical to the method which was…