Court Opinion

ID: 9754549
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:03:38.952136+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:54.512734
License: Public Domain

HUTCHINSON, Justice,
Dissenting.
I dissent. I do not believe that a directed verdict is warranted here. Sufficiency of the evidence should be judged on all of the evidence presented at trial, even evidence improperly admitted. Commonwealth v. Cohen, 489 *528Pa. 167, 413 A.2d 1066 (1980). Applying this standard, the evidence on this record is sufficient. The Commonwealth should be free to reprosecute appellant. It may try the case differently or introduce evidence of drunkenness not presented at the initial trial. The Commonwealth may even be able to introduce the breathalyzer results by showing that the modification was peripheral to the device’s operation. Therefore, I would vacate the judgment of sentence and remand for a new trial.
NIX, C.J., joins in this Dissenting Opinion.