Commonwealth v. Coleman

341 A.2d 528, 235 Pa. Super. 379, 1975 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1625
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 24, 1975
DocketAppeal, No. 532
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 341 A.2d 528 (Commonwealth v. Coleman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Coleman, 341 A.2d 528, 235 Pa. Super. 379, 1975 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1625 (Pa. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Opinion by

Spaeth, J.,

On February 13, 1973, appellant was tried before a jury for unlawful possession and delivery of heroin. When the jury said, after four hours and twenty-six minutes of deliberation, that it was unable to agrée on a verdict, the trial judge declared a mistrial. Defense counsel did not object to the declaration of a mistrial, nor did he object to the holding of a second trial on February 26, 1973. At the second trial appellant was found guilty by a jury of the same charges. After post-trial motions were dismissed, appellant was sentenced, and the matter now before us is a direct appeal from that sentence.

Appellant’s first argument is that he was placed in double jeopardy by being tried for the same offense after the first trial resulted in a mistrial. Stated in this [382]*382way, the argument will not be considered. .As noted, appellant’s counsel did not protect the record, either by objecting to the declaration of a mistrial at the first trial or to the holding of the second trial. Further, he did not argue double jeopardy in post-trial motions. Thus the argument cannot be made now. Commonwealth v. Clair, 458 Pa. 418, 326 A.2d 272 (1974). However, appellant has made the argument not simply by itself but also in the context of a claim that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Specifically, he states in his brief to us that “[bjecause trial counsel failed to object to the holding of the second trial, his action may have hurt his client. However, a criminal defendant is entitled to effective assistance of counsel.”

It has recently been held that in certain circumstances a defendant may argue on appeal that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. One of these circumstances will arise where the defendant’s appellate counsel is different than his trial counsel. In that event, if the grounds upon which the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is made to appear of record, not only may appellate counsel argue in effective counsel, if he does not, the argument will be considered waived and it may not be made later, as for example in a proceeding under the Post Conviction Hearing Act, Act of January 25, 1966, P.L. (1965) 1580, §1, et seq., 19 P.S. §1180-1 et seq. (Supp. 1974). Commonwealth v. Dancer, 460 Pa. 95, 331 A.2d 435 (1974). Sometimes the appellate court will be able to determine from the record whether in fact counsel was ineffective. Commonwealth v. Dancer, supra; Commonwealth v. Learn, 233 Pa. Superior Ct. 288, 335 A.2d 417 (1975). Other times the appellate court will not be able to make such a determination, in which case the record will be remanded for a hearing. Commonwealth v. Strachan, 460 Pa. 407, 333 A.2d 790 (1975); Commonwealth v. Twiggs, 460 Pa. 105, 331 A.2d 440 (1975).

[383]*383In the present case, appellant’s counsel before us is different than his trial counsel. Further, the grounds upon which the claim of ineffective counsel is made do appear of record, i.e., that a mistrial should not have been declared at the first trial and therefore counsel should have objected to the holding of the second trial. Accordingly, we must examine the record to see if we can determine whether in fact trial counsel was ineffective.

In undertaking this examination it should be borne in mind that appellant’s claim is that it was counsel at his second trial who was ineffective. The question to be decided, therefore, is whether the trial judge at the first trial erred in declaring a mistrial; for if he did not, counsel at the second trial cannot be faulted for failing to object to the holding of that trial.

The standard “for appellate review of the trial judge’s exercise of his discretion in declaring a mistrial without the defendant’s consent” is manifest necessity. Commonwealth v. Monte, 459 Pa. 495, 329 A.2d 836, 839-40 (1974). The principal example of manifest necessity is where the jury is unable to agree on a verdict. U.S. v. Corbitt, 368 F. Supp. 881 (E.D. Pa. 1973); Commonwealth v. Monte, supra; Commonwealth v. Shaffer, 447 Pa. 91, 288 A. 2d 727 (1972); ABA Standards, Trial by Jury §5.4 (c) (Approved Draft, 1968)i. Precisely when this occurs must be determined by the trial judge on a case-by-case basis:

“There are too many variables in the trial of criminal cases which would prevent the formulation of predetermined periods of time for the jury’s deliberation. Each case differs in the complexity of the issues presented, the seriousness of the charges, the number of the charges to be considered, the amount of testimony to be digested and reviewed, thus requiring the reasonableness of the time for deliberations to be made on a case-by-case basis.” [384]*384Commonwealth v. Monte, 459 Pa. 495, 504, 329 A.2d 836, 840 (1974).

In addition, it is important to note that

“[t]he line between giving a jury sufficient time to explore all possibilitites for true unanimity and a coerced verdict sometimes may be a fine one. If there is to be error, it should be on the side of avoiding a coerced verdict by the granting of a mistrial rather than by obtaining a decision through fatigue and frustration. Such matters as the complexity of issues, the number of witnesses, and the length of the trial must all be weighed.” U.S. v. Corbitt, supra at 885.

Thus, six and one-half hours has been held reasonable where there were only two indictments on minor charges with relatively uncomplicated issues to be decided by the jury (Commonwealth v. Monte, supra); five hours, where the entire trial took only two days (U.S. v. Brahm, 459 F. 2d 546 (3d Cir. 1972)); four hours and forty-five minutes when in the opinion of an experienced trial judge unanimity was impossible (U.S. v. Phillips, 431 F. 2d 949 (3d Cir. 1970)); and just over four hours, where the only issue was the identity of one or more of the defendants (U.S. v. Corbitt, supra).

In the present case, the jury had deliberated approximately two and one-half hours when they returned to the courtroom. The foreman informed the trial judge that there was a “slight possibility” of arriving at a unanimous verdict after further deliberation. The judge asked the jury to retire and deliberate further. One hour and fifty-six minutes later the jury again returned. Thus the jury had deliberated, in all, for-about four hours and twenty-six minutes. The judge questioned the foreman and the individual jurors. All agreed that it was impossible for them to arrive at a unanimous verdict. The case had begun on the morning of February 13, 1973. It concluded, and the jury began its deliberation, at 3:00 [385]*385that afternoon. The issues were the identity of appellant and whether his alibi was to be believed. In these circumstances it was not error for the trial judge to have declared a mistrial. Therefore, it was not ineffective assistance for appellant’s counsel not to object to the second trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
341 A.2d 528, 235 Pa. Super. 379, 1975 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-coleman-pasuperct-1975.