Court Opinion

ID: 9760819
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:18:09.859686+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:17.683401
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
concurring:
I share the majority’s view that the mistrial was not the product of prosecutorial misconduct as that term is defined in Commonwealth v. Starks, 490 Pa. 336, 416 A.2d 498 (1980), but instead was necessitated by defense counsel’s desire to testify and hence the need to continue the case for the appointment of new counsel. I further agree that the alternative claim of the appellant, that he .is entitled to a remand for a new hearing, is meritless on the facts of this case.
Since I agree that appellant should have the benefit of our review of his claim applying the Starks standard, and that Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 102 S.Ct. 2083, 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982) should not be applied retroactively by this court, I believe it inappropriate to further discuss any possible ramifications resulting from the future interpretation of Oregon v. Kennedy in this Commonwealth. I therefore am unable to join in that portion of the majority opinion at pp. 95-104. On a similar note, I would prefer to refrain from analyzing trial counsel’s stewardship and believe that the exchange at issue between the trial court and counsel might be better evaluated as an aggregate, rather than seeking to evaluate portions of the exchange separately.
For these reasons, I concur in the result.