Court Opinion

ID: 9747724
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:29:10.222805+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:25.949072
License: Public Domain

POMEROY, Justice
(dissenting).
The Court in today’s opinion disregards the findings of the trial court in connection with the contempt charge, asserts that that charge “was certainly preposterous” (opinion of the Court, ante at 688), and substitutes its own judgment that this appellant intended “absolutely no disrespect for the court’s authority.” This, in my view, is an unwarranted usurpation of the trial judge’s role in the conduct of trials before him, and I must, therefore, dissent.
There was here a clear direction by the trial judge to counsel at the beginning of trial “that there be no reference to a lie detector test . . . [nor shall] the results thereof be mentioned in the conduct of the trial.” [N.T. 8-9]. See Commonwealth v. Gee, 467 Pa. 123, 354 A.2d 875 (1976). It is conceded that this instruction *399was known to defendant Haefner; his own testimony makes this clear:
“Q. And what complaint did you make to Lees [District Justice of the Peace at the preliminary hearing] ?
“A. I complained to Lees that if I, that I had agreed to take a lie detector test from Detective Jan Walters and Detective Walters told me, I passed the test. And we had an agreement that if I passed the test, they would not bring any charges, and they brought charges anyway. Now Pm sorry, Pm not supposed to mention that but I have to tell the whole truth. He did ask me, he did give me a lie detector test.” Notes of Testimony, p. 11.
In Commonwealth, D. E. R. v. Pennsylvania Power Co., 461 Pa. 675, 337 A.2d 823 (1975), a case cited by the majority, it is stated that “[i]t is hornbook law that contempt is any conduct that ‘brings into disrespect the authority of a court, . . . ivillful disregard or disobedience to the court’s orders, . . . conduct which tends to impede the due administration of justice’ .” Id. at 687, 337 A.2d at 829 (emphasis added) ; see also Commonwealth v. Cherry, 467 Pa. 160, 354 A.2d 894, 895 (1976) (opinion in support of affirmance). The majority completely ignores the fact that following the citation for contempt (which was imposed after the jury had retired for its deliberation) the trial court conducted a hearing thereon, and found as fact that the quoted reference to the result of the polygraph test was wilful disobedience of the court’s order; that the reference to the test was interjected by Haefner solely to bolster his defense. This finding was supported, in part, by the testimony at the contempt hearing that Haefner had not, in fact, made any complaint before Justice of the Peace Lees.1 Since the finding of wilful disobedience is *400supported by ample evidence, there is no reason for this Court to disturb it on review. Cf. Levine Contempt Case, 372 Pa. 612, 620, 95 A.2d 222, 226 (1953).
The trial judge was present and observed the demeanor of the contemnor both at trial and at the subsequent contempt hearing. He rejected the argument that the answer given by Haefner was the only one which could have been given. The trial court’s opinion explains at some length the reasons for his conclusion “that the defendant knew how [to respond] but that he did not want to.” The opinion also describes the interruption of the court proceeding which was caused by the contumacious answer. We should be slow to ignore the reasoned basis of a trial court’s action in a case such as this. Hence this dissent.2

. The following portion of the opinion of the trial court is pertinent:
“At this hearing [on the contempt citation] the Commonwealth presented testimony that the defendant had not in fact made *400any complaint at the hearing before Justice Lees. One police officer was in the room the entire time and others were there most of the time. Their testimony was positive and firm. We find the testimony to be credible and conclude therefrom that the defendant’s testimony that he had made a complaint at the arraignment was incorrect. We have no doubt that the defendant has complained about the lie detector test and the non-use of it on numerous occasions, but the testimony of the police officers has convinced us beyond a reasonable doubt that the occasion of the arraignment was not one of the times when he voiced a complaint. Having concluded that he made no complaint, as we do, we thereupon conclude that the sole purpose of the answer given by the defendant was to bring the lie detector test to the attention of the jury in the hope that it would benefit his defense.” [Record, 16a].

. No claim is made by appellant that the penalty which the court imposed was unduly harsh; the only claim asserted is that the conduct of appellant was not contemptuous.