Court Opinion

ID: 9645287
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:19:32.907468+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:15:16.240282
License: Public Domain

MANDERINO, Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent. The majority asserts that because drug use is not a crime, to infer that appellant engaged in prior criminal activity from the remark naming appellant as a “junkie,” “the jury would have to conjecture that a drug *140user is prone to commit crimes in order to support his habit.” The fallacy of this argument is twofold. Although correct in its assertion that use of the drug heroin is not in itself a crime, the majority overlooks the fact that to use heroin, one must “possess” it, and possession of heroin is a crime in this Commonwealth. See The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, Act of April 14, 1972, P.L. 233, No. 64, § 1, et seq., as amended, 35 P.S. § 780-101 et seq. The Jury therefore need not speculate at all; they simply need to draw the conclusion obvious to all but the majority, that one who “uses” heroin has committed the criminal act of “possessing” heroin. Such reference to prior criminal activity is prohibited, and its admission into evidence at appellant’s trial constituted reversible error.
The majority’s logic also misses the mark by concluding that the possibility of the jury assuming that a heroin addict is more likely to commit a crime is too “attenuated” to require reversal. I believe that the likelihood of such speculation by the jury is quite high — regardless of the “basis in fact such a supposition may have as a general proposition” — and this likelihood of prejudice is in itself sufficient to warrant the grant of a new trial.
Moreover, the unobjected-to reference regarding appellant’s alleged use of mar juana in no way justifies referring to him as being a “junkie”. The foundation of the majority’s conclusion is its misconception of the meaning of the word “junkie”. The word is derived from “junk”, a synonym for heroin. A “junkie”, therefore, is one who regularly uses “junk”, i. e., heroin. As commonly understood, however, the work connotes much more. The name itself frequently conjures up images of the popular stereotype of the heroin addict, namely, a lost soul, physically and mentally deteriorating from dependence upon drugs, who manages to survive only by stealing enough to support a drug addiction costing perhaps hundreds of dollars a day. Such an image is likely to be implanted in *141the collective mind of the jury by the objectionable remark. Marijuana possession, on the other hand, has come to enjoy substantial acceptance, or tolerance at least, despite its continuing illegal status. The average juror is far more likely to ignore, or excuse, marijuana possession, while at the same time strongly condemning heroin use.
Additionally, I must express my dissent to the majority’s approval of the trial court’s statement that, in its opinion “the crime of voluntary manslaughter was not involved in this case.” The unavoidable effect of such a statement is to direct a verdict as to the voluntary manslaughter issue. The trial court’s statement, made in response to defense objections, that the jury had the “power” to return a voluntary manslaughter verdict despite the trial court’s opinion, adds to rather than reduces the prejudicial effect of the initial remark. The clear impression left by the exchange between the judge and defense counsel is that the jury would be wrong if it returned a voluntary manslaughter verdict. Such comment by the trial judge has been condemned by the court since Commonwealth v. Archambault, 448 Pa. 90, 290 A.2d 72 (1972)
ROBERTS, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.