Court Opinion

ID: 9698525
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:52:39.207037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:41.653162
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the plurality that the order of the trial court denying appellant’s motion to dismiss should be affirmed. I write separately only to make clear what issues truly are in this case. After a full evidentiary hearing, the trial court determined that the Commonwealth cautioned its civilian witness not to refer to appellant’s previous conviction, and that the witness nonetheless did so spontaneously. The record clearly supports these determinations. Accordingly, there is no reason here for the plurality to decide that the Commonwealth does not owe “an affirmative duty to caution any witness who knew of defendant’s prior criminal record against referring to it in the jury’s presence.” Plurality opinion at p.-. *861237. Nor is there any reason on this record to decide the standard under which appellant’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct warranting discharge should be tested. Compare, e. g., Commonwealth v. Potter, 478 Pa. 251, 260-67, 386 A.2d 918, 922-26 (1978) (Opinion of Pomeroy, J., in Support of Affirmance) (urging intentional standard) with id., 478 Pa. at 282-84, 386 A.2d at 933-34 (Opinion of Roberts, J., in Support of Reversal) (urging gross negligence standard). The record is clear that, under a gross negligence standard, appellant is not entitled to the relief he seeks.