Court Opinion

ID: 9746606
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:29:25.563866+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:15.231548
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
concurring.
I agree that the request by appellant for a finding that retrial, on these charges, should not be allowed and the discharge of appellant as to these offenses would be inappropriate. However, I do not accept the suggestion of the majority that the complaint is “without merit.” The news article in question placed before the jury evidence of prior criminal activity attributed to appellant, which could not have been properly introduced at the trial of this case and should not have influenced the verdict to be reached in this case. Mr. Donaldson, a respected member of the media, testified under oath that he had spoken to the trial assistant who tried this case and that the trial assistant verified the facts set forth in the article. The trial assistant categorically denied this and offered the possibility that Mr. Donaldson may have overheard a conversation between himself (the trial assistant) and someone involved in the case.1 If Mr. Donaldson’s version of the events is correct, there has been a serious violation of our rules. See generally Commonwealth v. Pierce, 451 Pa. 190, 303 A.2d 209 (1973). The fact that appellant is not entitled to the relief he seeks in raising the issue does not mean that the incident should be ignored.
FLAHERTY, J., joins in this opinion.

. I am also troubled by the fact that the testimony of Mr. Donaldson and the trial assistant appears to be irreconcilable. I am not as willing as the majority to dismiss the credibility of Mr. Donaldson.