Court Opinion

ID: 9637543
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:09:55.202734+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:57.661829
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, President Judge,
dissenting:
In Commonwealth v. Terry, 258 Pa.Super. 540, 393 A.2d 490 (1978), we held that Article 1, Section 9, of the Pennsylvania Constitution was violated where a trial court refused to produce a witness who was in federal custody. We stated that “the lower court wrongfully denied appellant the availability of a known eyewitness as well as the possibility of an adequate opportunity to present his version of the incident complained of to the jury”, and that “[t]he lower court usurped appellant’s prerogative in making the value judgment that [the witness’s] testimony would be cumulative at best and have little, if any, probative value.” Id., 258 Pa.Superior Ct. at 546, 393 A.2d at 493. Here, appellant’s position was that the absent witness would substantiate his defenses of duress and entrapment. Contrary to the majority’s statement that “the record reveals no basis for believing that [the absent witness’s] testimony would have been favorable to the defense”, Majority op. at 311, most of appellant’s testimony refers to the various acts of duress and entrapment alleged to have been perpetrated by the absent witness.
I also cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that appellant had no right under the Sixth Amendment to have the witness present. In United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858, 102 S.Ct. 3440, 73 L.Ed.2d 1193 (1982), the Supreme Court held only that an appellant “can establish no Sixth Amendment violation without making some plausible explanation of the assistance he would have received from the testimony of the [absent] witness.” Id. at *70871, 102 S.Ct. at 3448 (footnote omitted). Here, appellant claimed that the absent witness had both coerced and entrapped him. This evidence, if it had been presented, would have assisted appellant’s defense. “Just as the accused has a right to confront the prosecution’s witnesses for the purpose of challenging their testimony, he has the right to present his own witnesses to establish a defense. The right is a fundamental element of due process of law.” Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 19, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 1923, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1967).
I therefore conclude that the trial court’s refusal to take admittedly available steps to procure the attendance of a material witness violated appellant’s rights under the Federal and Pennsylvania Constitutions.
The judgment of sentence should be vacated and the case remanded for a new trial at which the witness should be produced.