Opinion ID: 1467486
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: III: Ineffectiveness of Trial Counsel: Jury Selection

Text: The second major issue presented for our review comes to us in three different forms. Counsel for both Appellant Bradley and Appellant Smith claim that trial counsel was ineffective by not requesting additional peremptory challenges prior to or during jury selection. [22] Counsel for Appellant Garvin attacks trial counsel's effectiveness on the grounds that she failed to request and use additional peremptory challenges. While this general claim is the same for each appellant, the theories underlying the claim are slightly different in each case as is the procedural posture of each claim. We must, therefore, treat each claim separately.
Appellant Bradley argues that counsel's ineffectiveness stemmed from his unawareness of the most recent amendments to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1126 which went into effect on August 1, 1980, one month before trial. As a result, defense counsel believed that the defense was to be given a total of only seven peremptory challenges which were to be divided among all three defendants. Appellant Bradley now asserts that Rule 1126, as it stood at the time of trial, permitted each appellant a total of seven peremptory challenges. Although not raised by Bradley at trial or in post-trial motions, this claim is not waived. Present counsel for Appellant Bradley assumed responsibility over this case only after this appeal had been perfected. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. at 276-277 nn. 6 and 7, 372 A.2d at 695 nn. 6 and 7. We note that there has been no evidentiary hearing for Bradley on this issue in the trial court. Cf. Commonwealth v. Davis, 499 Pa. 282, 453 A.2d 309, 310 (1982); Commonwealth v. Stitzel, 309 Pa.Super. 43, 454 A.2d 1072 (1982). However, because we can determine that appellant's claim is without merit, we will not remand for such a hearing. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, supra, 472 Pa. at 278, 372 A.2d at 696. We do not agree with appellant's reading of Rule 1126. The Rule, as amended, states that, where there is only one defendant in a case involving a non-capital felony (such as rape), the Commonwealth and the defendant shall each be entitled to seven (7) peremptory challenges. Rule 1126(a)(2). In trials involving more than one defendant, the defendants shall divide equally among them that number of peremptory challenges that the defendant charged with the highest grade of offense would have received if tried separately. Rule 1126(b)(1). Each defendant, however, must be afforded at least two peremptory challenges and, if the division among joint defendants results in a fraction of a peremptory challenge, each defendant shall be entitled to the next highest number of such challenges. Id. In this case, the division of challenges resulted in two and one-third (2 1/3) challenges for each appellant. Thus, under the amended Rule each appellant was entitled to the next highest whole number of such challenges, namely, three peremptory challenges. The appellants were entitled to a maximum of seven peremptory challenges each if, but only if, permitted by the trial judge. Rule 1126(b)(2) provides that: [I]t shall be within the discretion of the trial judge to increase the number of peremptory challenges to which each defendant is entitled up to the number of peremptory challenges that each defendant would have received if tried alone. There is no automatic entitlement to seven peremptory challenges for each defendant when multiple defendants are tried jointly for a non-capital felony. Furthermore, Appellant Bradley has failed to set forth any circumstances which would have warranted, let alone required, the trial judge to grant the maximum number of peremptory challenges for use during voir dire in this case. Commonwealth v. McKenna, 498 Pa. 416, 446 A.2d 1274 (1982); Commonwealth v. Pettus, 492 Pa. 558, 424 A.2d 1332 (1981); Commonwealth v. McFarland, 304 Pa.Super. 470, 450 A.2d 1008 (1982). The claim pressed here by Appellant Bradley is therefore without merit.
Counsel for Appellant Smith, on the other hand, attacks his own conduct at trial as constituting ineffective assistance of counsel in that he failed to obtain for appellant's use either the minimum number of three peremptory challenges or any greater number of such challenges up to the maximum number of seven. Counsel is the only attorney to have represented Appellant Smith during this case. As with Appellant Bradley, no evidentiary hearing on this issue was requested or held for Smith in the trial court. Instead, counsel attempts to turn this appeal into an evidentiary presentation. In his brief, counsel avers that he was not aware of rule 1126 prior to or during jury selection and that if he had been . . . he would have requested the maximum number of challenges. Counsel further states that he had no legitimate tactical reason for [his] failure to request additional challenges; rather his failure to do so was the result of his ignorance of Rule 1126. Brief for Appellant Smith at 33-34. (Emphasis supplied.) This court is thus once again confronted with a situation in which counsel raises his own ineffectiveness. Over the last decade, and especially over the last five years, such claims have become an all too frequently encountered feature of the appellate review of criminal cases. Over this period, more than forty cases involving such claims have been presented. [23] The standard pattern of analysis and disposition was established in Commonwealth v. Fox, 476 Pa. 475, 383 A.2d 199 (1978). The court stated: While this court will entertain a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal by the same attorney who served as trial counsel if reversible error is apparent on the record before us, we will not reject such a claim without a remand for appointment of new counsel. Id., 476 Pa. at 479, 383 A.2d at 201. [24] Thus, it is the usual course for an appellate court of this Commonwealth to remand a claim such as this to the trial court for a hearing on counsel's alleged ineffectiveness at which the defendant will be represented by an attorney not associated with the firm or office which provided the earlier, allegedly ineffective, counsel. [25] Only five times have our appellate courts found an attorney's alleged ineffectiveness to be apparent on the record and decided the merits of an ineffectiveness claim raised by the allegedly ineffective attorney or someone associated with him. Commonwealth v. Pfaff, 477 Pa. 461, 384 A.2d 1179 (1978); Commonwealth v. Tran, 307 Pa.Super. 489, 453 A.2d 993 (1982) (filed 12/10/82); Commonwealth v. Stiefel, 286 Pa.Super. 259, 428 A.2d 981 (1981); Commonwealth v. McNeal, 261 Pa.Super. 332, 396 A.2d 424 (1978) (three judges concurring only in the result, one judge dissenting); Commonwealth v. Weber, 256 Pa.Super. 249, 389 A.2d 1107 (1978). In almost all other cases, the matter was remanded for further proceedings. Usually, when any discussion takes place concerning the principles underlying the disposition of such a claim, the courts often state that a remand is necessary because it is unrealistic to expect zealous advocacy from an attorney laboring under the conflict of interest inherent in arguing his own or an associate's ineffectiveness. Commonwealth v. Fox, 476 Pa. at 478-479, 383 A.2d at 200-201. Sometimes in the strongest terms, both this court and the Supreme Court have used this zealousness theme to condemn the practice and to induce counsel to either forego such claims or to step aside and allow new counsel to adequately develop a record and present the claim along with the others preserved for appellate review. Commonwealth v. Willis, 492 Pa. 310, 424 A.2d 876 (1981); Commonwealth v. Glasco, 481 Pa. 490, 393 A.2d 11 (1978); Commonwealth v. Gardner, 480 Pa. 7, 389 A.2d 58 (1978); Commonwealth v. Patrick, 477 Pa. 284, 383 A.2d 935 (1978); Commonwealth v. Wright, 473 Pa. 395, 374 A.2d 1272 (1977); Commonwealth v. Via, 455 Pa. 373, 316 A.2d 895 (1974); Commonwealth v. Massie, 294 Pa.Super. 115, 439 A.2d 777 (1982); Commonwealth v. Nance, 290 Pa.Super. 312, 434 A.2d 769 (1981); Commonwealth v. Beecher, 278 Pa.Super. 309, 420 A.2d 555 (1980); Commonwealth v. Lewis, 278 Pa.Super. 35, 419 A.2d 1342 (1980); Commonwealth v. Prowell, 249 Pa.Super. 435, 378 A.2d 374 (1977); Commonwealth v. Crowther, 241 Pa.Super. 446, 361 A.2d 861 (1976). Occasionally, this court has forcefully criticized counsel for raising such claims. For example, in Commonwealth v. Smoyer, 281 Pa.Super. 320, 323, 422 A.2d 189, 190 (1980), the Court stated: We do not condone the practice of counsel from the public defender's office raising the effective assistance of counsel where trial counsel is a different attorney from the same public defender's office. If a genuine issue of the effectiveness of trial counsel exists, then the public defender should request the trial court to appoint appellate counsel who is not a member of the public defender's office. The allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel is tantamount to an allegation of incompetency on the part of counsel. . . . The best interest of an appellant is not served where his counsel must establish that an associate from his office acted in an incompetent manner at trial. It is now beyond dispute that the duties and obligations imposed upon counsel in a criminal case are the same regardless of whether counsel is privately retained, appointed by the court or a member of the public defender's or legal aid office. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 344-345, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 1716, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980); Ferri v. Ackerman, 444 U.S. 193, 199-205, 100 S.Ct. 402, 407-410, 62 L.Ed.2d 355 (1979); Reese v. Danforth, 486 Pa. 479, 406 A.2d 735 (1979); Barto v. Felix, 250 Pa.Super. 262, 378 A.2d 927 (1977); ABA Standards for Criminal Justice (2d Ed.), Standards Relating to the Defense Function, Standard 4-3.-9; Burger, Counsel for the Prosecution and Defense  Their Roles Under the Minimum Standards, 8 Am.Crim. L.Q. 2, 6 (1969). The burden placed upon the shoulders of the public defender by the Court in Smoyer, supra, must be borne as well by privately retained and court-appointed counsel. It is manifestly obvious that present counsel has not done so. The circumstances of this case also call upon us to comment upon another facet of counsel's representation. As is apparent from the quoted portions of his brief, counsel is attempting to place before us factual matters outside the record in an attempt to obtain a ruling in his client's favor. Not only is it not the function of this court to make factual findings, but counsel is attempting to act as both witness and attorney in the same case. Such a practice has long been condemned in both civil and criminal cases. Commonwealth v. Floyd, 494 Pa. 537, 431 A.2d 984 (1981); Commonwealth v. Fontana, 490 Pa. 7, 415 A.2d 4 (1980); American Dredging Co. v. City of Philadelphia, 480 Pa. 177, 389 A.2d 568 (1978); Kraynick v. Hertz, 443 Pa. 105, 277 A.2d 144 (1971); Commonwealth v. Scoleri, 415 Pa. 218, 202 A.2d 521 (1964); Otto Will, 349 Pa. 205, 36 A.2d 797 (1944); Perry v. Dicken, 105 Pa. 83, 51 Am.Rep. 181 (1884). Both the Canons of Ethics, Canon 19, and the Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rules 5-101 and 5-102, specifically proscribe such conduct. We discuss these matters not merely to add to the growing chronicle of examples of problems in current ineffective assistance doctrine, see, e.g., Commonwealth v. Alexander, 495 Pa. 26, 432 A.2d 182 (1981); Commonwealth v. Watlington, 491 Pa. 241, 420 A.2d 431 (1980); see also Commonwealth v. Brown, 313 Pa.Super. 256, 263, 459 A.2d 837, 840 (1983) ( en banc ) (concurring opinion of Spaeth, J.); but to emphasize that claims wherein counsel challenges his own effectiveness are not favored and should not be asserted. The professional improprieties and procedural wastefulness described above, repeated again and again despite the strongest words of disapproval voiced by this and the Supreme Court, are the proper subjects of ameliorative efforts. For the purposes of this case, we conclude that several factors compel us to withhold our recognition of the claim now pressed by Smith. First, counsel failed to raise this question before the trial court. This failure on his part took place despite the example set for him by trial counsel for Appellant Garvin who raised this issue in her post-trial motions and then stepped aside in order to allow post-trial and appellate counsel to advance this and other properly preserved claims. Smith's counsel attended an evidentiary hearing at which Garvin's trial counsel was called to testify concerning this very point. Despite having this claim drawn to his attention in this potent manner, counsel stated not one word on behalf of his own client. Second, counsel also failed, despite the example set for him by Bradley's trial counsel, to step aside and allow new and independent counsel to prosecute this appeal. In such a posture, we could have stayed proceedings in this court pending an evidentiary hearing. We would also not be confronted with the unenviable position of being required to assess the trustworthiness of one who comes before us in the twin roles of interested witness and advocate. Third, as noted above, counsel's delay has permitted him to bring before this court averments of fact outside of the record to which the Commonwealth cannot properly respond and which we cannot properly evaluate. Counsel's failure in this regard carries with it a strong disregard for the orderly administration of justice by asking us to assume the role of fact-finder at the same time that we are unable to afford the Commonwealth an opportunity to be heard in rebuttal. Fourth, counsel does not challenge as ineffective his failure to bring this alleged error before the trial court in post-trial motions. By this failure, he attempts to avoid the kind of burden that would be placed upon independent successor counsel who must allege the ineffectiveness of each preceding counsel. Fifth, an examination of the cases in which counsel raised his own or an associate's ineffectiveness on direct appeal where the case was remanded for an evidentiary hearing on counsel's alleged ineffectiveness shows that in most cases counsel either raised his own ineffectiveness in the trial court by means of post-trial motions, Commonwealth v. Patrick, 477 Pa. 284, 383 A.2d 935 (1978); Commonwealth v. Cooke, 288 Pa.Super. 205, 431 A.2d 360 (1981); Commonwealth v. Smoyer, supra ; Commonwealth v. McCarty, 280 Pa.Super. 102, 421 A.2d 425 (1980); Commonwealth v. Jellots, 277 Pa.Super. 358, 419 A.2d 1184 (1980); Commonwealth v. Aye, 275 Pa.Super. 369, 418 A.2d 767 (1980); Commonwealth v. Hart, 272 Pa.Super. 189, 414 A.2d 1071 (1979); or attacked as ineffective his failure to preserve the issue, Commonwealth v. Quarles, 284 Pa.Super. 473, 426 A.2d 145 (1981); Commonwealth v. Stump, 281 Pa.Super. 317, 422 A.2d 187 (1980); Commonwealth v. Jackson, 280 Pa.Super. 522, 421 A.2d 845 (1980); Commonwealth v. Vigue, 279 Pa.Super. 46, 420 A.2d 736 (1980); Commonwealth v. Beecher, 278 Pa.Super. 309, 420 A.2d 555 (1980); Commonwealth v. Williams, 277 Pa.Super. 86, 419 A.2d 673 (1980); Commonwealth v. Harrison, 275 Pa.Super. 249, 418 A.2d 706 (1980); Commonwealth v. Lennox, 270 Pa.Super. 254, 411 A.2d 514 (1979). [26] We also note that this court has expressly ruled that: [C]ounsel must raise his own ineffectiveness, if he is to raise it at all, at the first available time. In the instant case, counsel would have had to raise that claim in post-trial motions. Failing that, counsel could have contended before this Court that he had been ineffective in failing to file proper post-trial motions and requested the right to file post-verdict motions nunc pro tunc. Because counsel did not raise the claim properly, we hold that the issue is waived. Commonwealth v. Matt, 249 Pa.Super. 98, 106-107, 375 A.2d 777, 780-781 (1977) (Hoffman, J., with three judges joining, three judges concurring in the result) (footnotes and citations omitted). This case continues to be viable. Commonwealth v. Tran, 307 Pa.Super. 489, 494, 453 A.2d 993, 995 (1982). Finally, but by no means least in importance, we observe that Appellant Smith is not foreclosed from having this claim heard on collateral attack pursuant to the Post Conviction Hearing Act (PCHA). [27] Counsel who is alleged to be ineffective cannot foreclose his client from obtaining a hearing on the ineffectiveness issue. Commonwealth v. Dancer, 460 Pa. 95, 100, 331 A.2d 435, 438 (1975). Such a claim may be fully waived only by the failure of new and independent counsel to raise and litigate the issue. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. at 277 n. 7, 372 A.2d at 699 n. 7 (1977). See also Commonwealth v. Matt, supra ; Commonwealth v. Drake, 489 Pa. 541, 545-547 and n. 6, 414 A.2d 1023, 1025-1026 and n. 6 (1980). We also observe that there is no greater impediment to the prompt scheduling of PCHA proceedings than there is to the scheduling of proceedings on remand. In nearly all material respects, these proceedings would be the same: new counsel would need to be obtained, the time investigating and preparing for the hearings would be the same, and all parties would still be able to obtain appellate review. For all of the foregoing reasons, therefore, we neither reach the merits of the issue nor remand for an evidentiary hearing; for the purposes of this appeal only, the issue is deemed to have been waived. [28]
Similarly, Appellant Garvin also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to ask for and use the number of peremptory challenges to which appellant was entitled to [sic] under Pa.R.Crim.P. 1126. Brief for Appellant Garvin at 16. In this instance, the issue is properly presented. In post-trial motions, trial counsel raised her own ineffectiveness and then she stepped aside to allow present counsel to replace her. Before an appeal was filed and during the pendency of the post-trial motions, a hearing was held attended by all the defendants and their counsel as well as a representative of the District Attorney's Office. Appellant Garvin's trial counsel testified at the hearing on the issue of her alleged ineffectiveness. We will therefore proceed to consider the issue on the merits. In ruling on this issue, the trial court stated: [C]ounsel was not ineffective for failing to ask for additional peremptory challenges. The defendants were allowed a total of nine and only seven were used in seating the jury. The fact that counsel was unaware of Rule 1126 and that they were entitled to more peremptory challenges than they actually used does not make counsel ineffective. . . . Counsel has shown no prejudice as a result of being unfamiliar with the new rule. (Tr.Ct.Op. at 31-32.) We agree with the trial court's ultimate conclusion of the ineffectiveness issue. However, we premise our affirmance on slightly different ground. [29] The standard by which we assess claims of ineffective assistance of counsel is familiar and often repeated: In resolving this contention we are guided by the standard set forth in Commonwealth ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 427 Pa. 599, 604, 235 A.2d 349, 352 (1967): [C]ounsel's assistance is deemed constitutionally effective once we are able to conclude that the particular course chosen by counsel had some reasonable basis designed to effectuate client's interests. The initial factor which must be considered in applying this reasonable basis standard is whether the claim which. . . counsel is charged with not pursuing had some reasonable basis. In Maroney, we noted that a finding of ineffectiveness could never be made unless we concluded that the alternatives not chosen afforded a potential for success substantially greater than the tactics actually utilized. Commonwealth ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 427 Pa. at 605 n. 8, 235 A.2d at 353 [n. 8]. . . . It is only when the claim which was foregone was of arguable merit that we must make an inquiry into the basis for . . . counsel's decision not to pursue the matter. Thus, the starting point of our inquiry is whether there were reasonable grounds to advance the . . . claims which were not advanced. . . . Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. 259, 277-278, 372 A.2d 687, 695-696 (1977). (Original emphasis.) We believe that the trial court correctly required Appellant Garvin to show that some prejudice [30] to his defense occurred because of counsel's alleged shortcomings. However, we hasten to add that this showing is accomplished by establishing that the claim foregone is of arguable merit. An examination of the law of other jurisdictions, both Federal [31] and State, [32] reveals that a showing of prejudice is almost always required. The courts of this Commonwealth have adhered to a different verbal formula than that used in any other jurisdiction. This requirement developed out of the seminal case of Commonwealth ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 427 Pa. at 605 n. 8, 235 A.2d at 353 n. 8, quoted only in part by the court in Commonwealth v. Hubbard, supra . In full, the Washington court stated: Cases such as Commonwealth ex rel. Gallagher v. Rundle, 423 Pa. 356, 223 A.2d 736 (1966) and Commonwealth ex rel. Jones v. Maroney, 417 Pa. 567, 209 A.2d 285 (1965) indicate that for relief to be granted, appellant must demonstrate that counsel's ineffectiveness worked to his prejudice. Appellant, however, advances the proposition that any requirement of prejudice is inconsistent with White v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 59, 83 S.Ct. 1050 [10 L.Ed.2d 193] (1963) and Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U.S. 52, 82 S.Ct. 157 [7 L.Ed.2d 114] (1961). [These two cases held that no prejudice need be shown when counsel is not made available to an indigent defendant at a critical stage of pre-trial proceedings.] Since our test requires that we examine the approach employed by counsel in light of the available alternatives, a finding of ineffectiveness could never be made unless the alternatives not chosen offered a potential for success substantially greater than the tactics actually utilized. Obviously, then, if there is no reasonable basis to support . . . counsel's decisions (a finding prerequisite to a conclusion of ineffectiveness), his decisions a fortiori were prejudicial to the client. (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, by including the emphasized language with the definition of arguable merit, the Hubbard court implicitly acknowledged that a showing of prejudice is required for a showing of counsel's ineffectiveness. The prejudice which a defendant must show is that the claim or tactics foregone, if pursued, would have altered the chances for a successful defense both positively and substantially. When an accused fails to show or allege this form of prejudice, our courts will conclude that his or her claim is without merit. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, supra . An analysis of our cases supports this conclusion. In Commonwealth v. Pettus, 492 Pa. 558, 563, 424 A.2d 1332, 1335 (1981), the Supreme Court rejected a claim of ineffectiveness saying: Assertions of ineffectiveness in a vacuum cannot be ineffectiveness. Counsel who is alleging ineffectiveness must set forth an offer to prove at an appropriate hearing sufficient facts upon which a reviewing court can conclude that trial counsel may have in fact, been ineffective. This Court will no longer consider claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in the abstract. Boiler plate allegations. . . are insufficient. . . . Even more recently, our Supreme Court has rejected an ineffectiveness claim based on the alleged failure of trial counsel to pursue vigorously a motion for change of venue. In Commonwealth v. Vogel, 501 Pa. 314, 461 A.2d 604 (1983), the court articulated two grounds for its ruling. First, the defendant in that case had not shown that he would have been able to obtain a change of venue even if trial counsel had pursued such a motion. Id., 501 Pa. at 329, 461 A.2d at 611. Second, the court stated: [E]ven if we accept as inadequate counsel's reasons for failing to pursue the motion for change of venue with more vigor, that fact alone would not justify a disturbance of a final judgment absent a further showing that the asserted dereliction deprived Mr. Vogel of a fair trial. This was certainly not a situation that would justify a presumption of prejudice. Id., 501 Pa. at 329, 461 A.2d at 612. Also, an en banc panel of this court has recently rejected a claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to examine the record and preserve the defendant's claim that certain physical evidence should have been suppressed. In Commonwealth v. Brown, 313 Pa.Super. 256, 459 A.2d 837 (1983), this court stated: Nowhere does Brown tell us exactly what was wrong with the stewardship and disposition of his suppression motion or how it prejudiced him. Id., 313 Pa.Superior Ct. at 260, 459 A.2d at 839 (original emphasis). Likewise, in missing witness cases, the accused must show that (1) counsel knew of the existence of the witness who purportedly should have been called, (2) the witness was available to testify, and (3) the testimony of the witness would have appreciably strengthened the defense. Commonwealth v. McKenna, 498 Pa. 416, 446 A.2d 1274 (1982); Commonwealth v. Robinson, 487 Pa. 541, 410 A.2d 744 (1980); Commonwealth v. Stokes, 294 Pa.Super. 529, 440 A.2d 591 (1982); Commonwealth v. Ashley, 277 Pa.Super. 287, 419 A.2d 775 (1980). When the claimed ineffectiveness rests on the assertion that counsel should have filed a post-verdict motion for relief, the defendant must specify the trial errors which should have been preserved, Commonwealth v. McFarland, 304 Pa.Super. 470, 473-74, 450 A.2d 1008, 1010 (1982), as well as show how those omitted objections were arguably important and had a chance of succeeding. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. at 285, 372 A.2d at 699. The same is true when the defendant attacks his attorney's failure to file a pre-trial motion to suppress. Commonwealth v. Costanzo, 309 Pa.Super. 267, 455 A.2d 153 (1983). When a defendant argues that counsel omitted the presentation of a defense, that defense must be both material and favorable. Commonwealth v. McKenna, supra, 498 Pa. at 422, 446 A.2d at 1277. Likewise, when a defendant alleges that his counsel failed to attack the credibility of a witness by means of prior inconsistent testimony, the defendant must demonstrate the nature of those inconsistencies and their materiality. Commonwealth v. McFarland, supra . We are aware that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has also ruled that a harmless error analysis does not apply to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Commonwealth v. Badger, 482 Pa. 240, 244, 393 A.2d 642, 644 (1978). The court in Badger relied specifically on United States Supreme Court precedent which stated that the assistance of counsel is among those `constitutional rights so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error.' Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 489, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 1181, 55 L.Ed.2d 426 (1978), quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 827-828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). This may still be true for certain categories of ineffectiveness or right-to-counsel cases. See, e.g., cases where no counsel was afforded, White v. Maryland, supra ; Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963); Hamilton v. Alabama, supra ; where a systematic defect for which the state was responsible prevented counsel from performing functions vital to effective representation such as Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976) and Herring v. New York, 422 U.S. 853, 95 S.Ct. 2550, 45 L.Ed.2d 593 (1975); where counsel is required to operate under an actual conflict of interest or fails to detect such a conflict such as in Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980) and Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942); or where counsel's derelictions are so pervasive and substantial that no precise degree of prejudice can in fact be shown such as Davis v. Alabama, 596 F.2d 1214 (5th Cir. 1979), vacated as moot, 446 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 1827, 64 L.Ed.2d 256 (1980). However, where counsel proceeds unhindered by governmental misconduct and where there are no circumstances from which inherent prejudice may logically be presumed, the United States Supreme Court has unanimously stated that certain violations of the right to counsel may be disregarded as harmless error. United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 365, 101 S.Ct. 665, 668, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981). Additionally, the court stated that absent some real or threatened adverse effect upon . . . counsel's representation or . . . some other prejudice to the defense . . . there is no basis for imposing a remedy in that proceeding, which can go forward with full recognition of the defendant's right to counsel and to a fair trial. Id. We thus conclude that Badger and its progeny, Commonwealth v. Stitzel, 309 Pa.Super. 43, 47-8, 454 A.2d 1072, 1074 (1982) and Commonwealth v. Williams, 273 Pa.Super. 147, 416 A.2d 1132 (1979), no longer correctly reflect the law. We thus conclude that Appellant Garvin was required to show some form of prejudice to his defense before his claim of ineffectiveness of the part of his trial counsel could be deemed to be of arguable merit. After a thorough review of the record, we hold that Appellant Garvin failed to make the requisite showing. At the post-trial hearing, trial counsel for Appellant Garvin was the only witness called to testify. (N.T. 5/6/81 at 5-9.) She stated that, at the time of trial, she thought that we were entitled to seven [peremptory challenges], a total of seven for the three defendants. She further testified that she was unaware of the change in Pa.R.Crim.P. 1126 which increased the number of peremptory challenges permitted. Counsel also stated that, had she been aware of the change, she would have asked for a minimum of three . . . and a maximum of seven. . . . She also stated that she had not been satisfied with the jury selected and that she would have exercised additional peremptory challenges if she thought them available. She explained: At the time we conducted the voir dire we exhausted all seven challenges, so that before the jury selection was completed the three counsel and the defendants had used up the seven we thought we were entitled to. We would have used more if there were additional challenges available to us. (N.T. 5/6/81 at 9.) Contrary to the assertion of counsel and contrary to a statement in the trial court's opinion, Tr.Ct.Op. at 31, we believe that the record shows that eight peremptory challenges were utilized by defense counsel in selecting the jury. By examining the transcribed record of the voir dire, we can identify the column on the jury selection sheets used to record the peremptory challenges exercised by counsel for the defense. There are a total of eight recorded peremptory strikes. Because more challenges were utilized than counsel remembered being permitted to exercise, substantial doubt is cast upon her ability to accurately recall the other circumstances surrounding this claim. However, even if her memory be correct, her testimony provides no basis for a claim to relief. We find this case to be similar to Commonwealth v. Stokes, supra, 294 Pa.Super. at 541, 440 A.2d at 597. In that case, this court found unpersuasive a defendant's single bald assertion that the testimony of a missing witness would have been helpful to his case. Appellant's single reference to [the witness'] prospective assistance is hardly a positive demonstration that her testimony would have been helpful to Appellant's defense, and we will not find counsel ineffective for failure to produce her. What was needed in Stokes and what is needed in the present case is more than a conclusory assessment of the facts underlying the claimed ineffectiveness. These underlying circumstances must be elicited so as to enable the court to make its own assessment. As noted above, counsel testified that she had not been satisfied with the jury. However, we are not told the source from which this dissatisfaction stemmed. We cannot, nor could the trial court, independently assess the reasonableness of that dissatisfaction. Counsel did not state that any specific juror would have been excused nor that any specific juror fell below her personal threshold of satisfaction nor did she explain how her criteria for acceptability were structured. In short, there is no indication that the jury that would have been selected would have been fairer or less unfair than the panel which actually heard the case. We cannot therefore conclude that trial counsel's failure to exercise the additional peremptory challenges to which she was entitled deprived appellant of an alternative with a potential for success substantially greater than the tactics actually utilized. [33] Commonwealth v. ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, supra. Furthermore, although such evidence may not be essential to a claim of this type, we note that there is no evidence on this record which in the slightest manner impugns the fairness of the jury which heard this case. Indeed, the jury acquitted Appellant Garvin of two charges and acquitted Appellants Smith and Bradley of three charges each. Because appellant has not carried his burden of showing that he would have benefitted in some way from the exercise of the additional peremptory challenge, he has failed to show that his claim has any arguable merit.