Court Opinion

ID: 9734315
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:31:51.043503+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:47.872320
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, J.,
concurring:
I agree with the majority’s opinion except in one respect. As I read the record, Mrs. Smith all but admitted that she could not be impartial because her neighbor’s ten year old daughter had been raped, and only reneged because the lower court vigorously pressed her to do so. I have a great deal of difficulty believing that Mrs. Smith could have “put aside [her] prejudices in the performance of [her] duty.” Commonwealth v. Johnson, 452 Pa. 130, 136, 305 A.2d 5, 8 (1973). I conclude, therefore, that the lower court erred in not dismissing her for cause. However, since she was dis*599missed on a peremptory challenge, the lower court’s error was harmless. Commonwealth v. McGrew, 375 Pa. 518, 100 A.2d 467 (1953); Commonwealth v. Bibalo, 375 Pa. 257, 100 A.2d 45 (1953).