Court Opinion

ID: 9756917
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:08:56.42656+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:33.164081
License: Public Domain

KELLY, Judge,
concurring.
I join the majority opinion to the extent the majority determines that it was improper to inject references to specific instances of criminal activity irrelevant to the case before the jury. This, of course, was an ad hominem appeal to the jurors general sense of outrage regarding the increasingly violent nature of our society.
I wish to note however, that I find nothing whatsoever inappropriate about the prosecution’s argument that motive need not always be considered. The fact is, indiscriminate crime is indeed prevalent in our society. Motive, therefore, is unnecessary in establishing a case against a defendant. *131Thus, if the prosecution had merely argued that, given the prevalence of indiscriminate crime in our society, no motive necessarily need be shown; I would not hesitate to affirm judgment of sentence.
However, the prosecutor herein not only included references to specific instances of criminal behavior with no logical or factual nexus to the events of this case, he argued that motive was irrelevant as a matter of law. Such argument constituted reversible error, as the majority correctly concludes.