Opinion ID: 1992257
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: competency: assistant district attorney delaney

Text: The majority of the divided panel which originally heard this appeal held sua sponte that Assistant District Attorney Delaney had been permitted to testify in violation of former Pa.C.Prof.Resp. D.R. 5-101(B) and D.R. 5-102(A). [9] The panel majority concluded that Assistant District Attorney Delaney's participation in this case as the prosecutor at the preliminary hearings rendered him incompetent to testify at trial, even though the trial was conducted entirely and exclusively by another prosecutor and Assistant District Attorney Delaney appeared at trial solely and exclusively as a witness. Appellant embraces the reasoning of the panel majority in his brief to this Court on reargument. The dissenting member of the panel opined that the panel majority erred in raising the issue sua sponte. He also opined that the ethical rules cited by the majority did not apply because Assistant District Attorney Delaney did not appear in a dual capacity at trial, i.e. as advocate and witness. The Commonwealth embraces the dissent's reasoning in its brief to this Court on reargument. We find that the panel majority erred in raising the issue sua sponte and that the ethical rules they cited did not render Assistant District Attorney Delaney incompetent to testify under the circumstances of this case. Our reasoning follows.
Our Supreme Court has indicated in unequivocal terms that this Court may not raise issues sua sponte which were not properly preserved in the trial court. See Commonwealth v. Capitolo, 508 Pa. 372, 381-82, 498 A.2d 806, 810-11 (1985); see also Commonwealth v. Bennett, 512 Pa. 525, 530, 517 A.2d 1248, 1250-51 (1986). Assistant District Attorney Delaney's alleged incompetence to testify pursuant to Pa.C.Prof.Resp. DR 5-101 and DR 5-102 is nowhere raised or even vaguely suggested in the record of the proceedings in the trial court. Hence, this issue was not properly preserved for review, and must be deemed to have been waived.
Alternatively, and to prevent confusion as to the proper ethical response in such cases, we find it appropriate to set forth reasons why we find Assistant District Attorney Delaney to have been competent to testify and his conduct in this matter to have been entirely proper. [10] In Pennsylvania, witnesses are presumed competent and it is incumbent upon the party challenging the testimony to establish incompetency. See Commonwealth v. Riley, 458 Pa. 390, 393, 326 A.2d 384, 385 (1974); Commonwealth v. Stohr, supra, 522 A.2d at 591. Attorneys, including public prosecutors, are not rendered incompetent by the mere fact of their status as attorneys. See Perry v. Dicken, 105 Pa. 83, 90 (1884); Commonwealth v. Gatewood, 221 Pa.Super. 399, 402-03, 293 A.2d 80, 82 (1972); Commonwealth v. Van Buskirk, 155 Pa.Super. 613, 630, 39 A.2d 311, 318 (1944); cf. United States v. Cerone, 452 F.2d 274, 288 (7th Cir. 1971) (the U.S. Attorney was not disqualified from testifying merely by the fact he held a position of public trust). The suggestion that any witness should be disqualified based upon the fact that they have risen to a position of public trust or esteem seems antithetical to our entire truth determining trial process. Indeed, the more trustworthy a witness has proven himself or herself to be, the more urgent is the need for his or her evidence in order to assist the fact finder to reconstruct as accurately as possible the true facts of the case. Moreover, it is well settled that even an attorney acting as an advocate at trial is competent to testify on his client's behalf. See Weiherer v. Werley, 422 Pa. 18, 26, 221 A.2d 133, 136-137 (1966); In re Coulter's Estate, 406 Pa. 402, 409, 178 A.2d 742, 746 (1962). [11] Though it was suggested by way of dicta in Frear v. Drinker, supra , that based upon English authorities an attorney who had addressed the jury and examined witnesses might thereafter be deemed incompetent to present evidence as a witness for his client, the suggestion was unequivocally rejected in Follansbee v. Walker, supra . In Follansbee, our Supreme Court noted that the English cases cited in Frear had been overruled; the Court then concluded that the question of an advocate's competence to testify on behalf of his client could be regarded as having been settled in favor of competency in both England and Pennsylvania. 72 Pa. at 230-31; accord Annotation, Prosecuting Attorney as a Witness in a Criminal Case, 54 A.L.R.3d 100, 110-14 (1981 & 1988 Supp.) (collecting cases regarding competency). [12] Ordinarily, however, appearance of an attorney as both advocate and witness at trial is considered highly indecent and unprofessional conduct to be avoided by counsel and to be strongly discountenanced by colleagues and the courts. See Weiherer v. Werley, supra, 221 A.2d at 137; In re Coulter's Estate, supra, 178 A.2d at 746; Teats v. Anderson, 358 Pa. 523, 530, 58 A.2d 31, 34 (1946); In re Otto's Estate, 349 Pa. 205, 211-12, 36 A.2d 797, 799 (1944); Security Trust Co. v. Stapp, supra, 1 A.2d at 236; Smith v. Smith, 294 Pa. 347, 348, 144 A. 290, 290 (1928); McLaughlin v. Shields, supra, 12 Pa. at 286; Frear v. Drinker, supra, 8 Pa. at 521. One of the original justifications for the ethical rule against permitting an attorney to appear as both advocate and witness in the same trial was the perceived need to preserve the integrity of the judicial process by avoiding even the appearance that an attorney may be manufacturing evidence to support the client's case. [13] This rationale, however, has been strongly criticized, and is generally rejected today. [14] Other justifications for the Advocate-Witness Rule have been cogently summarized as follows: EC 5-9 Occasionally a lawyer is called upon to decide in a particular case whether he will be a witness or an advocate. If a lawyer is both counsel and witness, he becomes more easily impeachable for interest and thus may be a less effective witness. Conversely, the opposing counsel may be handicapped in challenging the credibility of the lawyer when the lawyer also appears as an advocate in the case. An advocate who becomes a witness is in the unseemly and ineffective position of arguing his own credibility. The roles of an advocate and of a witness are inconsistent; the function of an advocate is to advance or argue the cause of another, while that of a witness is to state facts objectively. Pa.Code Prof.Resp. EC 5-9 (superceded 5/1/88). Though still generally accepted, these ethical considerations are not without limits, exceptions, and countervailing considerations. [15] It is generally agreed that professional and judicial disapprobation is inappropriate when the anticipated testimony of the advocate is related to uncontested matters, the advocate is called as a witness by opposing counsel, or the necessity for the advocate's testimony arose at a time and under circumstances when a dual capacity appearance would be necessary in the interests of justice. See Pa.Rules of Prof. Conduct, Rule 3.7 & Comment; Pa.Code Prof.Resp. DR 5-101(B); ABA Formal Opinion 339 (January 31, 1975). [16] We note that our Supreme Court has specifically held that whether it would be appropriate to permit the prosecutor at trial to take the stand, testify, and then resume the role of Commonwealth's advocate would depend upon the surroundings and atmosphere of the trial, i.e. the totality of the circumstances. See Commonwealth v. Smith, supra, 113 A. at 846. When a dual capacity appearance is precluded by a proper application of the Advocate-Witness rule, the ethical course of conduct is for counsel to retire from the role of advocate in favor of the role of a witness. See Weiherer v. Werley, supra, 221 A.2d at 137, citing ABA Canons of Ethics, Canon 19; Teats v. Anderson, supra, 58 A.2d at 34; In re Otto's Estate, supra, 36 A.2d at 799-800; Smith v. Smith, supra, 144 A. at 290; Bell v. Bell, supra, 12 Pa. at 236; Frear v. Drinker, supra, 8 Pa. at 521. Professor Sutton has succinctly and correctly explained: A lawyer, like all other citizens, has a civic duty to testify regarding relevant, unprivileged facts which will aid the court in arriving at a proper judgment. The good citizen testifies whenever his testimony is helpful or of aid to the jury and not merely in the unusual instance when his testimony is really indispensable to prevent an injustice. The real ethical question is whether the useful witness, who should be a witness because his testimony will be helpful, may also be an advocate. Sutton, supra, 41 Tex.L.Rev. at 483-84. Thus, properly understood, the Advocate-Witness Rule is addressed to improper representation rather than improper testimony. We note that while an attorney should ordinarily retire from advocacy in a case as soon as it becomes foreseeable that he or she may be needed to testify for his or her client, the attorney may remain in a dual capacity role for an interim period when the interests of justice so require. See Pa.R.Prof.Conduct, Rule 3.7 & Comment; Pa.Code Prof. Resp. E.C 5-10, D.R. 5-101(B), D.R. 5-102; Note, Ethical Propriety of an Attorney's Testifying on Behalf of His Own Client, 38 Iowa L.Rev. 139, 142 (1952). The trial court is not without authority to enforce the Advocate-Witness Rule at trial. Though the question had been left open in the early case of Johns v. Bolton, supra, 12 Pa. at 340, our Supreme Court has since indicated that the trial court may direct a testifying attorney to withdraw from further advocacy in a case. See Commonwealth v. Scoleri, 415 Pa. 218, 235 n. 13, 202 A.2d 521, 530 n. 13 (1964). On the other hand, prosecutors previously associated with the case in a prosecutorial capacity but not appearing as an advocate at trial, like Assistant District Attorney Delaney, have been permitted to testify as witnesses for the prosecution without censure. See e.g. Commonwealth v. Scoleri, supra ; Hester v. Commonwealth, supra, 85 Pa. at 158. The general rule of vicarious disqualification of a testifying attorney's firm under the subsequently superceded Pa.C.Prof.Resp. D.R. 5-102(B) did not apply to public prosecutor's offices, absent exceptional circumstances. Cf. Commonwealth v. Miller, 281 Pa.Super. 392, 422 A.2d 525 (1980); ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual, supra, § 61:510 at 22-23. Moreover, vicarious disqualification in general has been forcefully criticized, and has been severely limited under the new Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. See Pa.R.Prof.Conduct, Rule 3.7(b) & Comment; Kuhlman, Pennsylvania Considers the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, 59 Temple L.Q. 419, 424 (1986); see also Annotation, Disqualification of Attorney Because Member of His Firm Is Or Ought To Be Called To Be A Witness, 5 A.L.R.4th 574, 574-90 (1981 & 1988 Supp.); Brown & Brown, supra, 57 N.C.L.Rev. at 608-13; Note, supra, 52 N.Y.U.L.Rev. at 1384-97. Hence, there was no reason why Assistant District Attorney Hyman could not replace Assistant District Attorney Delaney as the Commonwealth's advocate at trial, and thereby free Assistant District Attorney Delaney to appear at trial solely in the role of a witness. Finally, violation of the Advocate-Witness Rule is generally not deemed a valid basis to reverse a verdict or set aside a judgment in absence of extraordinary circumstances. See Weiherer v. Werley, supra, 221 A.2d at 137; In re Coulter's Estate, supra, 178 A.2d at 746; see also Annotation, supra, 54 A.L.R.3d 100-76 (collecting cases); Enker, supra, 1977 Am.B.Found.R.J. at 461 (it is overwhelmingly accepted that the [Advocate-Witness] rule is a rule of ethics solely and is not ordinarily grounds for reversal); Note, supra, 38 Iowa L.Rev. at 140 (violation of the rule is not reversible error). Thus, even if we assumed, arguendo, that a violation of the rule had occurred, reversal of appellant's conviction would still not have been appropriate. Thus, we find the reversal to have been erroneous in three respects: 1) the panel majority was without authority to raise the issue sua sponte; 2) no violation of the Advocate-Witness rule in fact occurred; and 3) a violation of the Advocate-Witness rule would not have been proper grounds for reversal even if a violation had occurred. Rather than conducting himself unethically, we find that Assistant District Attorney Delaney exhibited commendable delicacy in retiring from the role of advocate prior to trial in order to appear solely in the role of witness at trial. See Bell v. Bell, supra, 12 Pa. at 236 (commending similar conduct).