Commonwealth v. Heasley

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Barbieri,

On October 17, 1969, appellant was tried before a judge and jury in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. Lie was found guilty of second degree murder. His post-trial motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment were denied and he was sentenced to serve a term of from four to eight years in prison.

On direct appeal from the judgment of sentence, appellant alleges two errors: (1) that the trial court committed reversible error when it failed to properly charge the jury on the necessity of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; and (2) that the…