Commonwealth v. Coleman

1974

Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Facts: Gunplay and brandishing on a bus in response to bottle-throwing. Russian-roulette-style shooting of bus seat kills person cowering behind it.

Posture: Waived right to jury trial, was convicted; post-trial motions denied. Appealed.

Issue: Was there evidence of malice?

Holding: Yes. Affirmed.

Rule: Intentional doing of an uncalled-for act in callous disregard of likely harmful effects is the kind of malice we're talking about here.

Reasoning: Defendant should have known there was still someone on the bus, and that random shooting in an occupied bus might precipitate death.

Dicta: