Court Opinion

ID: 9629760
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:48:33.649101+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:23.348108
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Pomeroy :
My reading of the record leads me to a different view of what occurred at the trial as far as the episode here under consideration is concerned; this different factual understanding leads me to conclude that the trial court was not in error in refusing to grant the motion for a mistrial.
The record as to this incident is contained entirely in a colloquy between court and counsel appearing at pages 609-610 of the notes of testimony. Prom those *511notes it appears that, during a recess called at the request of a juror, the defendant, who was then on the stand, left the witness box without court permission, and started to confer with his counsel. At the request of the assistant district attorney, the court directed the defendant to resume the witness box. The court’s refusal of permission to continue the conference with counsel was made, according to the trial judge, “because the jury was coming in and I had already instructed the jury be brought in”. No prejudice is claimed to have resulted from this refusal and no request was made for a further recess to afford defendant and his counsel opportunity to confer together. The judge’s action seems clearly to have been in aid of the orderly conduct of the trial.
Under the circumstances it is my view that this case is governed by Commonwealth v. Christman, 432 Pa. 455, 247 A.2d 451 (1968), and not by Commonwealth v. Vivian, 426 Pa. 192, 231 A.2d 301 (1967), upon which the Court relies. As we said in Christman, “where there may be clear justification for the trial judge’s order ... at the least, prejudice must be shown” in order to entitle the defendant to relief. 432 Pa. at 460-61. For the reasons indicated, I respectfully dissent.
Mr. Chief Justice Jones joins in this dissenting opinion.