Commonwealth v. Carr
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
580 A.2d 1362 (1990)
Relevant factsFree
Carr (defendant) shot and killed two women he encountered having sex while hiking, and sought to introduce psychosexual evidence about his personal history of rejection and past sexual abuse to argue he acted in the heat of passion provoked by witnessing their lovemaking; the trial court denied the request, and he was convicted of first-degree murder.
IssueFree
Whether, to reduce a charge of murder to voluntary manslaughter, there must be sufficient proof that the defendant's passion to kill was caused by legally adequate provocation.