Court Opinion

ID: 9641753
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:39:48.394377+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:39.582622
License: Public Domain

McEWEN, Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result. While it is true the court resolved the hearing difficulty experienced by the juror while the first witness was still on the stand, it must be noted that this first witness was an alleged co-conspirator and accomplice of appellant who is acknowledged by the Commonwealth to be its “chief witness”. While it is also true that *297the additional examination of this first witness enabled that juror to learn the material parts of the evidence which the Commonwealth had submitted through the testimony of that witness, that juror did not receive the benefit of the cross-examination of that witness. Indeed, one might well question whether it is ever possible to fully achieve through a reenactment the full benefit and value of cross-examination, since any witness, once exposed to the issues that are the subject of cross-examination, as well as to the manner and method of the cross-examiner, is far better prepared to endure the rigors of so immediate a repetition of the cross-examination. That factor, as well as the fact that the credibility of this witness was a basic item for the scrutiny of the jury since his testimony was directly contradictory to the testimony of defendant, compels the conclusion that, as careful as was the effort of the trial judge to enable the juror to have a complete foundation for participation in the deliberation of the jury, that objective could not here be achieved.
While I concur in this result, it must be emphasized that it is the particular facts of this case that compel this determination and that it should not be said that the trial court must declare a mistrial in every situation of this type.