Court Opinion

ID: 9703128
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:41:40.135582+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:45.888914
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent on the ground that error was committed by admission into evidence of one of the handguns seized during a search of appellant’s residence. Under limited circumstances a weapon taken from a defendant’s possession is admissible notwithstanding an absence of proof that it was employed in the commission of a homicide. Commonwealth v. Royster, 472 Pa. 581, 372 A.2d 1194 (1977). Commonwealth v. Bederka, 459 Pa. 653, 331 A.2d 181 (1975). Commonwealth v. Yount, 455 Pa. 303, 314 A.2d 242 (1974). Commonwealth v. Ford, 451 Pa. 81, 301 A.2d 856 (1973). The following rationale for the admissibility of such a weapon was stated in Commonwealth v. Bederka, 459 Pa. at 659, 331 A.2d at 183: “The possession by appellant of weapons similar to the ones used in the actual murder was certainly relevant to establish that appellant possessed the necessary means to commit the murder.” (Emphasis added). The opinion of Mr. Justice Larsen, while noting that only two of the three handguns admitted into evidence were identified by testimony as being the same two weapons that appellants attempted to conceal after the homicide, applies the foregoing principle of admissibility with respect to all three weapons. The third handgun, however, bore no connection with the homicide, other than that it was seized from appellant’s *115residence during the course of investigation. Nor was admission into evidence of the third handgun necessary to prove that appellant possessed the necessary means to have committed the crime, since the other two handguns were certainly sufficient for that purpose. Handguns exist solely as instruments of destruction, and the introduction into evidence of a handgun, without a basis for its relevance, is inflammatory and prejudicial, due to the appearance of destructive character the weapon imputes to its possessor.
The court below deemed that if admission of the third weapon into evidence were error, such error could not be asserted as prejudicial because defense counsel, upon subsequent cross-examination of police officers, intentionally and repeatedly elicited the fact that not only were three weapons seized but rather a total of nine weapons were discovered in appellant’s residence. Testimony established that these other weapons included a shotgun and rifles which could be used for hunting. Counsel did object to admission of the three handguns, however, and one may only speculate as to counsel’s motive for bringing the other guns to the attention of the jury. Nevertheless, it cannot be assumed that cross-examination would have pursued the same course if any of the three handguns had previously been excluded from evidence. Based upon the improper admission into evidence of the third handgun, I would grant a new trial.