Court Opinion

ID: 9709635
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:52:32.29261+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:50.629184
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The majority today, in the name of “evenhanded decision making,” Commonwealth v. Cabeza, 300 Pa.Super. 483, 487, 446 A.2d 958, 960 (1982), has fashioned a “sweeping rule of retroactive application,” see August v. Stasak, 492 Pa. 550, 554, 424 A.2d 1328, 1330 (1981), which cannot be justified under the principles of jurisprudence which should properly guide the decision whether to give retrospective effect to a new rule announced by this Court. “Retroactive application is a matter of judicial discretion which must be exercised on a case by case basis.” August v. Stasak, supra, 492 Pa. at 554, 424 A.2d at 1330, citing Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965).
The “even handed justice” argument myopically considers only the interest of the disappointed litigant and ignores our responsibility to provide a fair system of justice for all of the citizens of this Commonwealth. The litigant’s *234interest in securing the benefit of the change must be considered in conjunction with the purposes intended to be accomplished by the change and the impact of a retrospective application upon the system. Such a balancing approach is essential in ensuring true fairness not only to the litigant, but also to society as a whole. Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, 500 Pa. 120, 134, 454 A.2d 991, 999 (1982) (plurality opinion).
See also Commonwealth v. Brown, 494 Pa. 380, 387, 431 A.2d 905, 909 (1981) (Larsen, J., dissenting). It cannot be overemphasized that both the federal and our state constitutions are silent on the question of retroactivity. See Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, supra.
I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that Commonwealth v. Scott, 496 Pa. 188, 436 A.2d 607 (1981), must be applied retroactively to the instant matter for two reasons. First, the change embodied in Scott was not constitutionally compelled. “The argument of the necessity of decision-making consistency in the application of constitutionally compelled decisions loses its force when removed from the constitutional setting.” Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, supra, 500 Pa. at 130, 454 A.2d at 996. Thus it would have been appropriate in the instant case for this Court to weigh appellant’s interest in reaping the benefit of the new rule against the purposes sought to be accomplished therein and the impact of retroactive application upon our system of criminal justice. Here, as in Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, supra, “we are concerned with merely a change in state practice,” Id. 500 Pa. at 130, 454 A.2d at 996. The change in Scott represents a refinement of that practice rather than a correction of a “serious flaw in the fact-finding process.” Id., 500 Pa. at 132, 454 A.2d at 997. Scott announced a better rule of evidence to be applied in criminal trials. The salutary purposes of this new rule cannot be significantly advanced by its retrospective application. Moreover, the application of Scott to trials already conducted would have a deleterious effect upon the administration *235of criminal justice. Thus there is no justification for the majority’s decision to apply Scott retroactively.
My second ground for disagreement with the majority is the fact that the Scott decision represents a “clear break with the past.” See United States v. Johnson, 457 U.S. 537, 102 S.Ct. 2579, 73 L.Ed.2d 202 (1982) (where new constitutional rule was unanticipated, a finding of nonretroactivity is indicated). Scott explicitly overruled our prior case law, under which the prosecution was permitted to question a character witness as to prior arrests of the defendant not resulting in conviction. See Commonwealth v. Little, 449 Pa. 28, 295 A.2d 287 (1972); Commonwealth v. Amos, 445 Pa. 297, 284 A.2d 748 (1971); Commonwealth v. Jenkins, 413 Pa. 606, 198 A.2d 497 (1964). Moreover, in Scott we noted that a vast majority of jurisdictions, following Michelson v. United States, 335 U.S. 469, 69 S.Ct. 213, 93 L.Ed. 168 (1948), allow such an inquiry. Thus even if the Scott rule had been constitutionally compelled, its nonretroactive application would be clearly indicated. See United States v. Johnson, supra; Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, supra.
Accordingly, I would reverse the Order of the Superior Court and reinstate appellant’s judgment of sentence.
McDERMOTT, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.