Commonwealth v. Dalton

SENIOR JUSTICE STEPHENSON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the trial court erred in refusing to grant an accessory-after-the-fact jury instruction.

I

Paul Michael Dalton, Jr., was tried by a jury in the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County upon an indictment charging the murder of Aubrey Clark Adkins. The jury found Dalton guilty of first-degree murder and fixed his punishment at .20 years’ imprisonment. The trial court entered judgment in accordance with the verdict.

At trial, although Dalton had not…