Case Title: Carlacci v. Mazaleski (Dissenting Opinion)

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Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 2002-06-03T00:00:00Z

Document:
[J-191-2000] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT MAURA CARLACCI, Appellee v. EDWARD R. MAZALESKI, Appellant : : : : : : : : : : : No. 97 MAP 2000 Appeal from the Order of Superior Court entered 12/30/99 at No. 336 MDA 1999 which affirmed the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County, Criminal Division, entered on12/24/98 at No. 98-CV-4771 Argued: December 6, 2000 DISSENTING OPINION MADAME JUSTICE NEWMAN Decided: May 31, 2002 I agree with the dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Saylor. I write separately to note my disagreement with the majority's resolution of this matter, which has the effect of creating a per se rule granting expungement in Protection From Abuse Act cases where the proceedings do not evolve beyond the temporary order stage. While employing a per se rule may save judicial resources, I do not believe that it serves the interests of the citizens of the Commonwealth to eliminate the exercise of judicial discretion from the expungement process. Therefore, I believe that the balancing test set forth in Commonwealth v. Wexler, 431 A.2d 877, 879 (Pa. 1981) should apply in the instant matter. Accordingly, I dissent.