Court Opinion

ID: 9762453
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:24:22.436998+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:34.669493
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent. Although there exists a well reasoned finding by the Superior Court that the jury’s ex parte communication with the court crier was not harmless *87error under our holding in Commonwealth v. Story, 476 Pa. 391, 383 A.2d 155 (1978), it is this writer’s opinion that the proper test goes beyond that expressed as being only one of harmless error.
The Superior Court’s reasoning and this majority’s denial of that reasoning both involve conjecture and second-guessing as to the understanding and thoughts of the jury, emphasizing the need for a test which does not invade that which is solely the jury’s province.
The very fact that we cannot know with any degree of certainty how ex parte interactions with the jury could have affected the outcome of the trial was the raison d’etre for our establishing a rule requiring the absolute grant of a new trial where it was found that unreported ex parte communications had occurred between the court, its officers, and the jury. In Commonwealth v. Bradley, 501 Pa. 25, 459 A.2d 733 (1983), we did not disembowel that rule. We merely modified it to address those situations where the ex parte communication concerned an incidental matter not directly affecting the heart of the deliberations.
It cannot be seriously challenged under the present facts that the request of the jury foreman to the court crier was one that touched the very heart of the deliberations. It occurred because of the unusual one week recess which was caused by the trial judge’s absence, a recess which resulted in a continuous motion for mistrial by the defense attorney. As the jury foreman testified, “... I guess it was shortly after I was elected foreman that they asked about it, if we could have the first day’s testimony because there was such a lapse of time.” (N.T. October 1, 1981 at p. 5). (Emphasis added).
It is also conceded by both parties to this appeal that the failure of the court crier to inform the trial judge of the jury’s request constituted error. That error precluded the trial judge from ascertaining the underlying reason for the request. It further precluded trial counsel from arguing the merits or prejudice of having the notes of testimony of *88the prior week read to the jury and prevented the creating of a record.
I venture to say that this much cannot be contradicted, and is sufficient under Bradley and under the harmless error test announced in Story to make out a case for granting a new trial. Further inquiry into the understanding of the jury, a domain into which we are always reticent to invade, would take us into the realm of speculation and conjecture. Any serious inquiry into the understanding of the jury was precluded when the foreman failed to inform the trial court of its request.
For the foregoing reasons under either the Bradley rule or the harmless error rule, on the facts and circumstances of this case, I would grant the Appellee a new trial.