Court Opinion

ID: 9762325
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:20:01.647343+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:33.358407
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I agree with the majority that the lower court did not err in denying the motion to suppress. However, I cannot agree *454with the majority’s conclusion that the court properly denied appellant’s motion for a mistrial. I think it clear that from the statement by Donald Bevan, the Commonwealth’s witness, the jury could, and must, have inferred that appellant had engaged in prior criminal activity, and that this inference was prejudicial to appellant. The judgment of sentence should therefore be reversed and the case remanded for new trial.
During direct examination by the prosecutor, Donald Be-van testified as follows:
Q. Is it correct that you have entered a plea of guilty to possession of schedule one controlled substance?
A. Yes, sir, that’s true.
Q. Is it correct that that charge was reduced from possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance?
A. It was, sir.
Q. Have you been sentenced on that charge?
A. Not as yet, sir.
Q. Were you represented by an attorney at that time?
A. Yes, sir, I was.
Q. Who was that?
A. It was Anthony Federico, Harrisburg address.
Q. Were you questioned by the police?
A. I was, sir.
Q. Did you initially tell them what you have told us here today at first?
A. No, sir. I told them that it was mine and that Mr. Bowermaster was, in fact, hitchhiking.
Q. Why did you tell them that?
A. Well, this is my first time and I figured that, you know, well, I just figured they would be easier on me than they would on him basically.
MR. ANDREWS:
If Your Honor please, may we approach the bench?
(Whereupon, the following discussion was held at side bar.)
MR. ANDREWS:
*455I think the implication of what this witness has just said is that my client has a prior record. And I would ask for a mistrial right now on that basis.
THE COURT:
The motion is overruled. I don’t think there is enough from what he said to indicate anything about a prior record.
(End of discussion at side bar.)
N.T. 49-50.
Under Commonwealth v. Allen, 448 Pa. 177, 292 A.2d 373 (1972), as the majority acknowledges, the inquiry is whether the jury could reasonably infer from the testimony that the defendant had engaged in prior criminal activity. Appellant argues that “[t]he only possible interpretation of Mr. Be-van’s testimony which makes sense is that he chose initially to take total responsibility for the crime because he felt that he would receive more lenient treatment since he had no record and the defendant [appellant] apparently had a record.” Appellant’s Brief at 27. This argument is plainly right. Certainly that is the way I understand Bevan’s testimony, and I have no doubt that that is the way the jury understood it. Also, it may be added, the jury had just heard testimony by Bevan to the effect that he had known appellant “since we were young,” N.T. 38, thus demonstrating, first, that he was in a position to know whether appellant had engaged in criminal activity, and second, that he might well have lied in telling the original hitchhiking story to help his boyhood friend.
The majority does not discuss what it admits is the “controlling question,” slip op. at 118, of whether a juror could reasonably infer from Bevan’s statement that appellant had engaged in criminal activity. Rather, it goes on to say that “there is no indication that the district attorney was attempting to elicit a response which would prejudice the appellant . . ..” slip op. at 118, and, as evidence of the prosecutor’s good intent, adopts the Commonwealth’s after-the-fact explanation, Appellee’s Brief at 8, as “not unreasonable,” slip op. at 118.
*456I cannot subscribe to this reasoning. A prosecutor’s intent in asking a question is not relevant to whether the response given creates an inference prejudicial to the accused. An innocent question may elicit a response so prejudicial as to deny an accused the right to a fair trial, and this is so whether the innocent question is asked by the prosecutor, Commonwealth v. Washington, 488 Pa. 133, 411 A.2d 490 (1979) (inference of criminal activity drawn despite fact that purpose of prosecutor’s question was to show defendant had fled after murder), or by the accused’s own counsel, Commonwealth v. Wetzel, 276 Pa.Superior Ct. 445, 419 A.2d 541 (1980) (inference of criminal activity drawn despite the fact that questions asked by defense counsel and not prosecutor).
Commonwealth v. Richardson, 496 Pa. 21, 437 A.2d 1162 (1981) , on which the majority relies, is inapposite. That case involved the question whether cautionary instructions cured the prejudice resulting from a witness’s remark that the last time the defendant was at the home of the murder victim “was when he burglarized it.” Supra, 496 Pa. at 524, 437 A.2d 1164. The Supreme Court held that “prompt and decisive” cautionary instructions cured the prejudice created by the remark. Id., 496 Pa. at 526, 437 A.2d 1165. The Court noted, too, that there was ample on-the-record evidence that the prosecution had made an effort to keep this information about the previous burglary from the jury:
This remark was preceded by discussions between the prosecutor, the court, and defense counsel concerning the necessity of preventing the jury from learning about the earlier burglary. In order to prevent any reference to the burglary from being made, the prosecutor instructed his witnesses not to mention the burglary directly, but to refer to it by date, October, 1977, if it were appropriate to refer to the prior burglary. Further, the prosecutor, on several occasions, cautioned defense counsel to be careful in this area of cross examination, and defense counsel stated that he appreciated “the prosecutor’s concern over this dangerous line of cross examination.”
Id., 496 Pa. at 577, 437 A.2d at 1165.
*457It was in this context that the Court suggested that “[t]he nature of the inference and whether the remark was intentionally elicited by the Commonwealth are considerations relevant to the determination of whether a mistrial is required. Id. at n. 4.” quoting, Commonwealth v. Williams, 470 Pa. 172, 368 A.2d 249 (1977).1 Richardson is therefore distinguishable, for, as the majority admits, no cautionary instructions were given to mitigate the prejudice flowing from Bevan’s comment.
It is not enough to say, as the majority does, that appellant did not ask for cautionary instructions. The fact remains that prejudice resulted. The majority does not suggest, nor could it, that counsel’s failure to ask for cautionary instructions constituted a waiver.2 Moreover, the record shows that such a request would have been pointless, for the trial judge did not consider the statement prejudicial, as shown by his ruling on counsel’s motion for a mistrial:
THE COURT: The motion is overruled. I don’t think there is enough from what he said to indicate anything about a prior record.
N.T. 50.
The majority says, “Nor can we hold that the lower court should have given such instructions sua sponte.” Slip op. at 119. I do not see why not. If a court can sua sponte order a mistrial when prejudice occurs, Commonwealth v. Anderson, 294 Pa.Superior Ct. 1, 439 A.2d 720 (1981), then a fortiori, it can sua sponte give cautionary instructions when prejudice occurs. Indeed, in other cases courts have done just that. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Baker, 466 Pa. 382, 353 A.2d 406 *458(1976); Commonwealth v. Thomas, 459 Pa. 371, 329 A.2d 277 (1974). In discussing the court’s duty to act sua sponte when faced with prosecutorial overreaching, it has been well said:
The trial judge, in jury cases, “is not a mere moderator, but is the governor of the trial for the purpose of assuring its proper conduct and of determining questions of law.” Quercia v. United States, 289 U.S. 466 [469], 53 S.Ct. 698 [699], 77 L.Ed. 1321, 1324 (1932). See also Commonwealth v. Claiborne, 175 Pa.Super.Ct. 42, 50, 102 A.2d 900 (1953). 75 Am.Jur.2d Trial S.87. It has long been recognized in this Commonwealth that the trial judge not only has the power, but in proper cases the duty as well to “supervise the addresses of counsel so far as may be necessary to protect prisoners or parties litigant from injurious misrepresentations and unfair attack, and the jury from being misled. When this power should be exercised must be left to the sound discretion of the judge, and he should not hesitate to act where the fair administration of justice requires him to do so.” Commonwealth v. Mudgett, 174 Pa. 211, 257, 34 A. 588 (1896). “The trial judge may, and should, confine arguments within the limitations of legitimate advocacy.” Commonwealth v. Ross, 190 Pa.Super. 145, 154, 152 A.2d 778 (1959). Commonwealth v. Phillips, 183 Pa.Super. 377, 385, 132 A.2d 733 (1957). See also Sadler, Criminal Procedure in Pennsylvania, 2d Ed. §§ 561, 562, 563. He should in my judgment take an active role in the trial process where the circumstances warrant it; and, when it is apparent to him that the remarks of counsel are improper or bordering on the improper, should sua sponte call counsel to side bar, caution him or her against the line of argument being pursued, and where necessary, give appropriate cautionary instructions.
Commonwealth v. Barren, 273 Pa.Superior Ct. 492, 417 A.2d 1156, 1161-1162 (1979) (LIPEZ, J., concurring) (footnote omitted).
*459These observations apply as well to a witness’s remarks as to a prosecutor’s.3
Even assuming Richardson is applicable to this case despite its crucial factual difference, the majority’s result does not follow. Although in Richardson the Court suggested that the prosecutor’s intent was relevant, it did not hold, as the majority here attempts to do, that good intent on the part of a prosecutor would “save” an otherwise prejudicial answer. Nor could such a holding be accepted, for it would be inconsistent with considerations of fundamental fairness, which dictate that we not expand the exceptions that already exist to the rule against admitting evidence of an accused’s prior criminal activity. As the Supreme Court has said:
Evidence of prior criminal activity is probably only equalled by a confession in its prejudicial impact upon a jury. Thus, fairness dictates that courts should be ever vigilant to prevent the introduction of this type of evidence under the guise that it is being offered to serve some purpose other than to demonstrate the defendant’s propensity to commit the charged crime. An additional reason why we caution trial courts against being innovative in carving out new exceptions to the rule is that evidence of prior criminal activity requires the accused to answer additional charges which were not included in the indictment returned against him. Where the testimony is admissible under the traditional exceptions counsel for an accused can anticipate its introduction and thus prepare a response. Where a novel exception provides the basis for the entry of such testimony, the appellant cannot reasonably be expected to be prepared to meet it. In the latter case, serious due process concerns are raised. Commonwealth v. Spruill, 480 Pa. 601, 606, 391 A.2d 1048, 1050-1051 (1978).
*460Finally, there is no on-the-record indication of what the prosecutor’s intent really was in asking Bevan the question. All we have is the Commonwealth’s brief, which says that the district attorney “sought only to minimize the harmful effect of any possible impeachment of Bevan by the defense. ...” Appellee’s Brief at 17. I agree with the majority that this explanation is “not unreasonable,” but it remains mere speculation, and therefore irrelevant. As a court, we may consider only such facts as are of record; we “may not consider those interjected by briefs of counsel.” Dile v. Dile, 284 Pa.Superior Ct. 459, 426 A.2d 137 (1981); Marine Bank v. Huhta, 279 Pa.Superior Ct. 130, 420 A.2d 1066 (1980); Gee v. Eberle, 279 Pa.Superior Ct. 101, 420 A.2d 1050 (1980). We have been emphatic that this “essential principle of appellate review” is to be adhered to without exception, even when the asserted fact in one party’s brief goes unchallenged:
Of course, it is an absolute rule that on appellate review, a court may not consider facts outside the record. Commonwealth v. Young, 456 Pa. 102, 115 & n. 15, 317 A.2d 258, 264 & n. 15 (1974) (citing numerous cases). Unfortunately, administration of this salutary rule has been somewhat erratic. For example, less than six weeks after Commonwealth v. Young, supra, our Supreme Court filed an opinion considering a summary of facts alleged in the appellee’s brief, even though there was nothing in the record concerning these facts, because the appellant had “not substantially challenged that summary in any of his filings.” State Dental Council and Examining Board v. Pollock, 457 Pa. 264, 271, 318 A.2d 910, 914 (1974). Other cases also contain vague and confusing references to apparent departures from the rule on an ad hoc basis. Such standardless deviation from an essential principle of appellate review quickly creates confusion, and eventually chaos. It is thus with some relief that we note that last year in Commonwealth v. Quinlan, 488 Pa. 255, 258, 412 A.2d 494, 496 (1980), our Supreme Court unanimously condemned consideration by an appellate court of material outside the record.
*461Since allegations in a brief, even when not “substantially challenged,” are not part of the record, Quinlan necessarily overrules State Dental Council and Examining Board v. Pollock, supra, to the extent that it allows consideration of such allegations. We shall therefore not base our disposition on the unchallenged assertions in appellant’s brief, but rather on what is in the record. Commonwealth v. Rini, 285 Pa.Superior Ct. 475, 427 A.2d 1385, 1389-90 (1981) (footnotes omitted).
Since here the record is devoid of an explanation of why the question was asked, we are left with a prejudicial statement concerning appellant’s past criminal activity, with no cautionary instructions to guide the jury or reduce the prejudice to appellant. We have never encountered such a case and affirmed, and we should not now.
The judgment of sentence should be reversed and the case remanded for new trial.

. Williams also involved the question whether a prejudicial remark was cured by cautionary instructions.

. Failure to ask for cautionary instructions may constitute a waiver when the remark in question relates to an accused’s silence at trial or at the time of the arrest, Commonwealth v. Zellner, 268 Pa.Superior Ct. 59, 407 A.2d 436 (1979). However, this is not the case when the remark relates directly to an accused’s past criminal conduct, which the Supreme Court has suggested is tantamount to a confession in the high degree of prejudice it provokes. See Commonwealth v. Spruill, 480 Pa. 601, 391 A.2d 1048 (1978).

. Unlike the majority, I do not think Bevan’s statement, and the inference it so clearly raised, can fairly be characterized as a “minor remark” to bring it within the holding of Commonwealth v. Jackson, 248 Pa.Superior Ct. 420, 375 A.2d 168 (1977).