Court Opinion

ID: 9650162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:26:07.097935+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:06.411235
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, Judge, dissenting:
I believe we should vacate the judgment of sentence and remand for a new trial.
In charging the jury, the trial judge stated: “Credibility is the thing that the jury is best at and the reason that the system works so well. Credibility is who you believe or what portion of what you hear you believe. In determining credibility, you can consider the apparent candor and frankness or fairness of the witnesses or lack of it; their bias or prejudice in the case, if any; the means that they have of observing what they say they saw; their corroboration, if any, by other witnesses. You take into account all of the surrounding circumstances and determine which witness or witnesses you wish to believe. Now, to say that the defendant would not be interested in the outcome of this case would be to attack your intelligence, of course, he is interested. I’m certain that the police officer is interested also. You look to see whether or not the interest in any way colored their testimony; and in judging that, you judge their demeanor. Is this police officer, Trooper Gwin, the type of a police officer that is attempting to get a prosecution just for the sake of winning the case? Is he saying things untrue because he wants to win? What difference docs it make to him; to his superiors, or his fellow officers, remuneration, or whatever it may be? You judge the character or the people who come before you in determining truthfulness. I’m certain that there are certain people that you know that could tell you anything and you would disbelieve it simply because you don’t feel that man has a character of honesty. There are other people who will say things to you and you will be much more prone to accept what they say because of their demeanor and the way they tell you what they are saying. In the last analysis, however, you use your own good common sense and judgment.” (Emphasis added.)
*94Section 4.7 of the ABA Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to Trial by Jury (Approved Draft, 1968) provides:
“(a) The court, at the time it instructs the jury, may summarize and comment on the evidence, provided the jury is clearly and unequivocally instructed that it is the exclusive judge of the facts, that it is to determine the weight of the evidence and the credibility of witnesses, and that it is not bound by the comments of the court.
“(b) The summary and comment permitted in subsection (a) is governed by the following principles: .
“(iv) The court may state the law and comment on matters in evidence bearing on the credibility of any witness, but may not directly express an opinion that certain testimony is worthy or unworthy of belief." (Emphasis added.) The Commentary to § 4.7(b)(iv) states: "The standard permits the judge to put to the jury appropriate legal principles on credibility and to point out relevant matters in evidence, such as conflicts in testimony of a witness or between testimony of witnesses. But, the judge may not `intimate that certain testimony is worthy or unworthy of belief.' United States v. Bookie, 229 F.2d 130 (7th Cir. 1956).”
The trial judge’s rhetorical questions concerning the credibility of the arresting officer violated this standard. The effect of these questions was twofold. First, the questions dealt exclusively with the officer’s credibility, and thereby focused the attention of the jury on the officer’s version of the case. Second the suggested answers to the questions so plainly emphasized the officer’s apparent objectivity that it seems quite certain that the jury understood from them that in the trial judge’s opinion, the officer’s testimony was particularly worthy of belief. Since the officer’s credibility was critical, the questions represented reversible error. Commonwealth v. Wortham, 471 Pa. 243, 369 A.2d 1287 (1977).
The judgment of sentence should be vacated and the case remanded for new trial.