Court Opinion

ID: 9758343
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:23:02.013332+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:49.713709
License: Public Domain

POMEROY, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the Court’s holding that denial of a pretrial motion to quash an indictment, where the motion alleges that a second trial will violate a defendant’s right not to be placed twice in jeopardy, is a final, appealable order. I deem it desirable, however, to set forth in concise fashion my reasons for reaching this result. I also agree with the Court’s conclusion that there was no judicial or prosecutorial overreaching in appellant’s first trial, and that therefore the double jeopardy clause does not bar reprosecution of this appellant. In my view, however, it is unnecessary in this case to reach the question addressed by the Court in part III-B of the opinion, i. e., whether judicial or prosecutorial overreaching, sufficient to bar a second trial under the double jeopardy proscription, includes conduct which amounts to gross negligence.
*647I.
In felonious homicide cases, the Appellate Court Jurisdiction Act of 1970 invests this Court with exclusive jurisdiction of appeals from final orders of the courts of common pleas.1 As a general rule, criminal defendants may appeal only from a judgment of sentence entered upon a verdict. E. g., Commonwealth v. Myers, 457 Pa. 317, 322 A.2d 131 (1974); Commonwealth v. Sites, 430 Pa. 115, 242 A.2d 220 (1968); Commonwealth v. Swanson, 424 Pa. 192, 225 A.2d 231 (1967). This is a salutary rule based upon sound policy,2 and exceptions to it should be created only in the rare situations where the need for immediate review outweighs the purposes served by requiring finality. See ABA Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to Criminal Appeals, § 1.3(b), commentary (d) (Approved Draft, 1970). A denial of a pre-trial motion alleging prospective infringement of the right against double jeopardy should retrial be had, presents just such a situation.
As the Court’s opinion points out, the constitutional ban against double jeopardy3 is designed not merely to protect a defendant from multiple convictions or multiple punishment for the same offense; one of the central purposes of the clause is to prevent a defendant from having to undergo the hardships of a second trial for the same *648offense.4 The “prohibition is not against being twice punished, but against being twice put in jeopardy”. United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662, 669, 16 S.Ct. 1192, 1194, 41 L.Ed. 300, 302 (1896). The accused is to be protected from the necessity of enduring the ordeal and anxiety inherent in having to undergo a second prosecution.5 It follows that although the accused might be acquitted following retrial, or an appellate court might reverse on double jeopardy grounds a conviction obtained after a second trial, the defendant’s right not to be placed twice in jeopardy will have been violated, and the right so guaranteed will have been irretrievably lost. To afford a defendant the full measure of protection the double jeopardy clause was designed to ensure, therefore, it seems obvious that there must be an effective procedural mechanism by which a defendant can have his claim heard before the alleged violation has been committed. Such a mechanism is simply to afford a defendant an immediate appeal from a denial of a pre-trial motion to quash the indictment.
*649In the civil context, this Court has stated that
“Whether an order is final and appealable cannot necessarily be ascertained from the face of a decree alone, nor simply from the technical effect of the adjudication. The finality of an order is a judicial conclusion which can be reached only after an examination of its ramifications. We follow the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court that a finding of finality must be the result of a practical rather than a technical construction. Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1226, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949).” Bell v. Beneficial Consumer Discount Co., 465 Pa. 225, 228, 348 A.2d 734, 735 (1975).
In Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., supra, the Supreme Court of the United States carved an exception to the final judgment rule for situations where postponement of appeal until after final judgment might result in an irreparable loss of the right asserted. Under Cohen, an order is considered final and appealable if (1) it is separable from, and collateral to, the main cause of action; (2) the right involved is too important to be denied review; and (3) the question presented is such that, if review is postponed until final judgment in the case, the claimed right will be irreparably lost. Cohen, supra, 337 U.S. at 546-47, 69 S.Ct. at 1225-1226, 93 L.Ed. at 1536; see 9 Moore’s Federal Practice § 110.10 (2d Ed. 1970).
In the past we have found the reasoning in Cohen to be persuasive, Bell, supra, and I see no reason why the exception to the finality rule there created by the Supreme Court should not be equally persuasive to this Court in the criminal context. Indeed, of the six United States Circuits which have addressed the issue confronting us today, four, including the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, have applied the reasoning of Cohen in concluding that a denial of a defendant’s pre-trial double jeopardy claim is a final, appealable order within the *650meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.6 These courts were of the view that denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment on double jeopardy grounds is precisely the type of order which, though not final, should be appealable under Cohen.
“First, defendant’s right is under the fifth amendment and it is separable from, and collateral to, the main cause of action, which is whether he is innocent or guilty of the crimes charged. Second, the right claimed is a constitutional one and, as such, is too important to be denied review. Finally, if review is not had now, the right claimed — to be free from being twice forced to stand trial for the same offense — will be irreparably lost.” United States v. Landsdown, 460 F.2d 164, 171 (4th Cir. 1972).
I find this reasoning convincing, and thus agree with the conclusion of the opinion of the Court that a denial of a pre-trial motion to quash an indictment based on double jeopardy grounds is a final, appealable order.7
*651II.
Appellant states that although the mistrial in this case was granted at his request, that request was forced upon him by the misconduct of the prosecutor and trial judge; therefore, he argues, the double jeopardy clause should bar reprosecution. Before reaching the merits of this claim, which are later, and correctly, found wanting, the majority addresses the question of “whether [prosecutorial and judicial] ‘overreaching’ is limited to intentional misconduct or whether it extends to gross negligence on the part of the prosecutor or judge.” Opinion of the Court, ante at 108. The Court then holds, for the first time in Pennsylvania, that “if a mistrial is ordered on defendant’s motion due to intentional or grossly negligent misconduct on the part of the prosecutor or judge, re-prosecution is barred by the double jeopardy clause.” Opinion of the Court, ante at 109 (my emphasis). Given the facts of this case and the nature of appellant’s claim, there is no reason for reaching and deciding the above issue.
The majority opinion ignores the fact that appellant is not asserting that the prosecutor or trial judge acted in a grossly negligent fashion. To the contrary, appellant quite clearly contends that his motion for a mistrial was a result of intentional prosecutorial and judicial misconduct designed to enhance the opportunity for conviction.8 Even assuming appellant is arguing that grossly negligent misconduct on the part of the trial judge or prosecution is sufficient to bar retrial following a defendant’s request for mistrial, I believe that resolution of the claim *652is unnecessary in this case. Under the Court’s own factual analysis,9 with which I agree, the prosecutorial and judicial actions which allegedly provoked appellant’s mistrial request cannot reasonably be characterized either as intentional or grossly negligent. Thus, in my view the Court’s purported holding concerning gross negligence, opinion of the Court, ante at 109, is gratuitous and mere dictum.

. Act of July 31, 1970, P.L. 673, No. 223, Art. II, i 202(1), 17 P.S. § 211.202(1) (Supp.1976-1977).

. See United States v. Ryan, 402 U.S. 530, 91 S.Ct. 1580, 29 L.Ed.2d 85 (1971); DiBella v. United States, 369 U.S. 121, 82 S.Ct. 654, 7 L.Ed.2d 614 (1962); Cobbledick v. United States, 309 U.S. 323, 60 S.Ct. 540, 84 L.Ed. 783 (1940); In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 525 F.2d 151 (3rd Cir. 1975).

. U.S.Const. amend. V; Pa.Const. art. I, § 10. In Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969), the Fifth Amendment double jeopardy clause was made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

. See United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 342-43, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 43 L.Ed.2d 232, 241 (1975); United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 479, 91 S.Ct. 547, 27 L.Ed.2d 543, 553 (1971); Ex Parte Lange, 85 U.S. (18 Wall.) 163, 168-73, 21 L.Ed. 872, 876-78 (1874); United States ex rel. Webb v. Court of Common Pleas, 516 F.2d 1034, 1037, 1039-41 (3rd Cir. 1975); Fain v. Duff, 488 F.2d 218, 224 (5th Cir. 1973). See also cases cited in note 6, infra.

. Mr. Justice Black perhaps best gave voice to the basic reason behind the prohibition in the well-known passage, which the Court quotes, opinion of the Court, ante at 97, 98 and which I repeat here;
“The underlying idea [behind the double jeopardy clause], one that is deeply ingrained in at least the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence, is that the State with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty.” Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187-88, 78 S.Ct. 221, 223, 2 L.Ed.2d 199, 204 (1957).

. These Circuits are the Second, Third, Fourth and Eighth. See United States v. Alessi, 536 F.2d 978 (2d Cir. 1976); United States v. MacDonald, 531 F.2d 196 (4th Cir. 1976); United States v. Barket, 530 F.2d 181 (8th Cir. 1975); United States v. DiSilvio, 520 F.2d 247 (3d Cir.) cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1015, 96 S.Ct. 447, 46 L.Ed.2d 386 (1975); United States v. Beckerman, 516 F.2d 905 (2d Cir. 1975); United States v. Landsdown, 460 F.2d 164 (4th Cir. 1972). The two Circuits which have addressed the issue but have reached a contrary result are the Fifth and Ninth. See United States v. Young, 544 F.2d 415 (9th Cir. 1976); United States v. Bailey, 512 F.2d 833 (5th Cir. 1975); Gilmore v. United States, 264 F.2d 44 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 994, 79 S.Ct. 1126, 3 L.Ed.2d 982 (1959).
While these courts were construing finality under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, the policies underlying the general rule of finality are in all important respects the same regardless of whether it is a federal or state constitution or statute which a court is considering.

. This Court has held that an order denying a motion to dismiss an indictment because of an alleged violation of the right to a speedy trial is not appealable. Commonwealth v. Barber, 461 Pa. 738, 337 A.2d 855 (1975); Commonwealth v. Myers, 457 Pa. 317, 322 A.2d 131 (1974). Unlike Justice NIX, see dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice NIX, post at 116-117, I agree with the majority that there is a rational basis for disparate treatment of denials of pre-trial motions alleging violations of speedy trial and double jeopardy. See Opinion of the Court, ante at 104, 105 n. 31.

. In his brief appellant states: “Defendant, of course, contends that the actions of both Court and prosecutor, both before and during the first trial, were taken in bad faith and solely to enhance the prosecution’s opportunity to convict him.” Appellant’s Brief at 15. In his Summary of the Argument at p. 8 of his brief, appellant declares: “II. Double jeopardy attaches where a mistrial, although asked for by the defendant, was the result of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct intended to enhance the opportunity for conviction.”

. Opinion of the Court, ante at 109-111.