Commonwealth v. Schnopps

On October 13, 1979, Marilyn R. Schnopps was fatally shot by her estranged husband George A. Schnopps. A jury convicted Schnopps of murder in the first degree, and he was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment. Schnopps claims that the trial judge erred by refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter. We agree. We reverse and order a new trial.

The voluntary manslaughter claim. Schnopps does not claim that there was insufficient evidence to warrant the jury’s verdict of murder in the first degree. He claims, however, that there is evidence which required the judge to…