Court Opinion

ID: 9645865
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:37:44.668661+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:32.322375
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice
(dissenting).
I cannot accept the majority’s conclusion that because Rule of Criminal Procedure 323 was designed to provide for pre-trial disposition of evidentiary objections based on constitutional grounds, it necessarily follows that this procedural rule divests the trial court of its inherent power to dispose of all other nonconstitutional evidentiary objections pre-trial. It has always been recognized that where an evidentiary ruling, even though not involving a constitutional issue, requires the taking of extensive testimony out of the hearing of the jury and is not dependent upon the posture of the proceeding at the time of its offer into evidence, it was within the sound discretion of the trial court to hear and determine the issue prior to the commencement of the trial. This power was considered incidental to the general authority vested in the trial judge to provide for an orderly disposition of the issues. Today’s divestment of this formerly well-recognized authority is without foundation in reason and tends to detract from, rather than enhance, the orderly disposition of matters below.
The obvious benefit of pre-trial disposition of appropriate objections avoids the unnecessary prolonging of the trial and prevents a break in the continuity of the presentation of the evidence to the jury. I can perceive no reason to require the ruling to be confined to the trial *302where the question of admissibility is not dependent upon the state of the record at the point at which the evidence is sought to be introduced.
Since this Court announced its exclusionary doctrine for violations of Rule 118 (now 130) in Commonwealth v. Futch, 447 Pa. 389, 290 A.2d 417 (1972), courts throughout this Commonwealth have heard these objections pre-trial and granted relief where the facts so indicated. This practice was not only known by this Court1 but was at léast implicitly approved by our grant of appellate review after a pre-trial determination where the ruling was adverse to the Commonwealth’s presentation of its case. Commonwealth v. Peters, 453 Pa. 615, 306 A.2d 901 (1973). Under the majority’s decision, the question of violation of Rule 118 (130) must now be decided during trial and the Commonwealth is foreclosed from appellate review where the ruling is adverse. Such a result, in my judgment, would not only be unfair to the people of this Commonwealth but also completely devoid of logic or reason.
Here the court found that the incriminatory utterances could not be admitted against appellee because of an absence of mental capacity at the time the statements were made. This decision in no way hinged upon the state of the record at the time the evidence was to be introduced. All of the information necessary to resolve the question was before the court. There was no reason to require that the objections and ruling be made and decided at trial or for this Court now to refuse to assess the propriety of the court’s decision and to summarily vacate the order.
JONES, C. J., and ROBERTS, J., join in this Dissenting Opinion.

. See also: Com. v. Blagman, Pa., 326 A.2d 296 (1974), Roberts, J., concurring opinion joined by Jones, C. J., Nix, and Manderino, JJ. and Com. v. Johnson, 459 Pa. 171, 327 A.2d 618 (1974).