Court Opinion

ID: 9763196
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:38:32.550073+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:39.967574
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
dissenting.
While I agree with that portion of the Majority Opinion which affirms the trial court’s denial of the motion for an arrest of judgment, I am unable to agree that the trial court *582abused its discretion in granting a new trial. Accordingly, I must respectfully dissent.
The trial court determined that the interests of justice required the grant of a new trial due to the cumulative effect of errors at trial. Our supreme court has stated that “[a] trial court has an ‘immemorial right to grant a new trial, whenever, in its opinion, the justice of the particular case so requires.’ ” Commonwealth v. Powell, 527 Pa. 288, 293, 590 A.2d 1240, 1242 (1991), quoting March v. Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co., 285 Pa. 413, 416, 132 A. 355, 357 (1926). Further,
[i]t is the trial judge’s review of the conditions and activity surrounding the trial which leaves him or her in the best position to make determinations regarding the fairness of the process and its outcome. It is apparent, therefore, [that] if a trial court determines that the process has been unfair or prejudicial, even where the prejudice arises from actions of the court, it may, in the exercise of its discretionary powers, grant a new trial “in the interest of justice.”
Id., 527 Pa. at 294, 590 A.2d at 1243. Recently, our supreme court, quoting Echon v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 365 Pa. 529, 534, 76 A.2d 175, 178 (1950), stated:
“When the court has come to a conclusion by the exercise of its discretion, the party complaining of it on appeal has a heavy burden; it is not sufficient to persuade the appellate court that it might have reached a different conclusion if, in the first place, charged with the duty imposed on the court below; it is necessary to go further and show an abuse of the discretionary power. ‘An abuse of. discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is overridden or misapplied, or the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will, as shown by the evidence or the record, discretion is abused.’ Mielcuszny et ux. v. Rosol, 317 Pa. 91, 93, 94, 176 A. 236 [ (1934)].”
*583In re Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 535 Pa. 9, 13-14, 634 A.2d 159, 161 (1993); Paden v. Baker Concrete Construction, Inc., 540 Pa. 409, 412, 658 A.2d 341, 343 (1995).
Here, English, in his post-trial motions, asserted that he was entitled to a new trial based upon prosecutorial misconduct and the Commonwealth’s introduction of prejudicial evidence. The trial court found that although none of the trial errors were so prejudicial that they could not be cured by appropriate jury instructions, “the cumulative effect of these errors may have been to prejudice the jury against [English], thereby depriving him of a fair and impartial trial.... ” Footnote to Order, dated August 22, 1994, at 1. Specifically, the trial court took issue with the contradictory way in which the Commonwealth presented its case. The Commonwealth charged English with involuntary manslaughter, alleging that the child’s death occurred as a result of criminal recklessness or negligence. However, at trial, the Commonwealth’s expert, a forensic pathologist, testified that the child’s face was pushed into the sofa cushions by some “outside force.” N.T., November 18, 1993, at 173-74. Defense counsel lodged an objection, contending that such an assertion went completely beyond the charge of involuntary manslaughter and suggested, instead, that the child was intentionally suffocated. Id. The trial court overruled the objection. Id. at 177-78. On cross-examination, defense counsel questioned the forensic pathologist as to whether, in his opinion, “somebody” intentionally pressed the child’s face into the sofa cushions. Id. at 187. After the pathologist replied in the affirmative, the Commonwealth objected, claiming that such testimony went beyond the scope of the expert’s testimony presented during direct examination. Id. at 188. The court overruled the objection. Id. at 189. However, the following day, just prior to instructing the jury, the court directed the jury that the forensic pathologist’s testimony that the child’s death was an intentional act was stricken from the record. Id. at 226. The court further directed the jury to totally disregard such testimony. Id. In its Order, the trial court found that the introduction of evidence which suggested that the child was *584intentionally killed caused clear prejudice to English. Footnote to Order, supra, at 2. I agree. Given the fact that the jury did not receive the instruction to disregard this prejudicial evidence until the following day, I find no abuse of discretion in the court’s conclusion that, in the interests of justice, a new trial was required.
In addition, the child’s mother reported overhearing a conversation between two women who may have been jurors. One of the women stated that she recognized English from an item in the newspaper concerning a prior crime he had committed. The other woman responded that she had been thinking about that as well. N.T., supra, at 231. The court allowed English the opportunity to voir dire the jury, but he declined to do so. Id. at 244-45. In its Order, the court expressed concern that, despite English’s waiver of his right to voir dire the jury, “the jury may have been tainted to the extent that [English]’s conviction could [have been] based in part on prejudicial hearsay outside the record.” Footnote to Order, supra, at 3. Based upon this factor and the introduction of evidence which suggested that the child was intentionally killed, the court ordered a new trial.
The Majority concludes that the trial court abused its discretion in granting a new trial because English did not object to the trial errors or improprieties at the earliest possible stage of the proceedings. Majority op. at 574-75, 575-77. However, my research has not disclosed any authority for the proposition that the trial court is foreclosed from granting a new trial in the interests of justice based upon any action or inaction by defense counsel. In fact, our supreme court “has expressly approved of a trial court’s granting a new trial, sua sponte, for the promotion of justice, if sufficient cause exists.” Powell, supra, 527 Pa. at 293, 590 A.2d at 1242. See also Commonwealth v. Tyson, 535 Pa. 391, 635 A.2d 623 (1993) (trial court’s grant of post-conviction relief in the interests of justice was affirmed even though appellant’s issues were previously raised and decided on direct appeal). Therefore, based upon the above-stated standards, I find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s grant of a new trial, and I *585would affirm the trial court order in its entirety. Hence, this dissent.