Court Opinion

ID: 9718180
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:18:17.573514+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:57.827493
License: Public Domain

*148ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The majority has determined that the court's instruction, when viewed as a whole, fully conveyed to the jury that a failure by the defense to prove alibi was not to be construed as evidence of guilt. To reach this conclusion, the majority reasons that the words “even if not wholly believed” do not have to be included in the charge.
The hallmark of our legal system is that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. I perceive a great danger that despite being instructed as to this presumption, jurors may interpret a failure to prove an alibi defense as a sign of the defendant’s guilt.
It is imperative that the tenets of our legal system be preserved. For this reason, I maintain that the words “even if not wholly believed” must be included as part of the alibi instruction. A defendant is entitled to such an affirmative assertion in the context of the charge on the alibi defense itself so that it is absolutely clear that the raising of the defense does not alter the Commonwealth’s burden of proving the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Bonomo, 396 Pa. 222, 151 A.2d 441 (1959).
Accordingly, I would reverse the order of Superior Court which affirmed the judgment of sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County and remand for a new trial.