Commonwealth v. Evans

387 A.2d 854, 479 Pa. 100, 1978 Pa. LEXIS 658
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 2, 1978
Docket63
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 387 A.2d 854 (Commonwealth v. Evans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme 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. Evans, 387 A.2d 854, 479 Pa. 100, 1978 Pa. LEXIS 658 (Pa. 1978).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

MANDERINO, Justice.

This appeal is from the denial of post-conviction relief, following an evidentiary hearing, by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Appellant was originally charged with murder and aggravated robbery in 1973 for the beating death of one Arthur Bock. He was tried and convicted by a jury of murder in the second-degree. Following denial of post-verdict motions, appellant was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of ten to twenty years. Appellant’s trial counsel then took an appeal to us. On direct appeal, we affirmed the judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Evans, 465 Pa. 12, 348 A.2d 92 (1975).

Appellant, now represented by new counsel, raised several issues before the PCHA Court. He pursues three of these issues here, contending that he was denied the effective representation of counsel at trial: (1) because of trial coun[102]*102sel’s failure to challenge the admissibility of an alleged confession on the basis that appellant’s arrest was illegal or (2) on the basis that the statement was obtained during a period of unnecessary delay following appellant’s arrest; and (3) because of trial counsel’s failure to object to certain allegedly inflammatory remarks of the prosecutor made during his summation to the jury. We believe the last of these allegations is meritorious and requires that appellant be granted a new trial. We therefore need not now discuss the other issues raised.

Appellant argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to certain remarks made by the prosecutor during his closing summation to the jury. The remarks in question are as follows:

“I want you to remember that as I said, our best witness is not here. Arthur Bock will never again walk the streets of Philadelphia or go to work ... or see any of his four children or see them smile, or see them grow up, graduate from school or get married or anything else, and why, because this defendant after drinking some wine, snuffed out his life for a few measly dollars, the money that his mother brought in his bloody shoes. I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that the only way that you can fail to bring back a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree is if Arthur Bock walks through those doors. Shall we wait?”

This statement could constitute grounds for a mistrial if objected to by defense counsel, see Commonwealth v. Gilman, 470 Pa. 179, 368 A.2d 253 (1977); Commonwealth v. Cronin, 464 Pa. 138, 346 A.2d 59 (1975); Commonwealth v. Lipscomb, 455 Pa. 525, 317 A.2d 205 (1974).

We have repeatedly held that it is improper for the prosecuting attorney to express his or her personal opinion about a defendant’s guilt. As we said in Commonwealth v. Gilman, 470 Pa. 179, 188-189, 368 A.2d 253, 257 (1977),

“. . . the prosecutor is a quasi-judicial officer representing the Commonwealth. His duty is to seek justice, not just convictions. E. g., Commonwealth v. Collins, 462 [103]*103Pa. 495, 341 A.2d 492 (1975); Commonwealth v. Revty, 448 Pa. 512, 295 A.2d 300 (1972); see ABA Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to the Prosecution Function and the Defense Function, the Prosecution Function, § 1.1 (Approved Draft, 1971) [hereinafter cited as ABA Standards]; Pennsylvania Supreme Court Code of Professional Responsibility EC 7-13 (1974).
‘Although the prosecutor operates within the adversary system, it is fundamental that his obligation is to protect the innocent as well as to convict the guilty, to guard the rights of the public.’
ABA Standards § 1.1, commentary at 44; See Commonwealth v. Toth, 455 Pa. 154, 314 A.2d 275 (1974).
During closing argument, the prosecutor has an obligation to
‘. . . present the facts so that the jury can dispassionately and objectively evaluate the testimony in a sober and reflective frame of mind that will produce judgment warranted by the evidence and not inspired by emotion or passion.’
Commonwealth v. Harvell, 458 Pa. 406, 411, 327 A.2d 27, 30 (1974). The prosecutor’s position as both an administrator of justice and an advocate ‘gives him a responsibility not to be vindictive or attempt in any manner to influence the jury by arousing their prejudices.’ Commonwealth v. Revty, 448 Pa. at 516, 295 A.2d at 302, and cases cited therein; Commonwealth v. Collins, supra; Commonwealth v. Toth, supra; Commonwealth v. Bubnis, 197 Pa. 542, 47 A. 748 (1901). In particular, the prosecutor must limit his argument to the facts in evidence and legitimate inferences therefrom. E. g., Commonwealth v. Revty, supra; ABA Standards § 5.8, supra.” (Footnote omitted.)

See also Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. 259, 372 A.2d 687 (1977) (Roberts and Manderino, JJ., dissenting on other grounds); Commonwealth v. Cronin, 464 Pa. 138, 346 A.2d 59 (1975); Commonwealth v. Lark, 460 Pa. 399, 333 A.2d 786 (1975); Commonwealth v. Russell, 456 Pa. 559, 322 A.2d 127 [104]*104(1974) . See also, DR 7-106(C)(4), Code of Professional Responsibility, 438 Pa. XXV (1970).

In both Commonwealth v. Cronin, 464 Pa. 138, 346 A.2d 59 (1975) , and Commonwealth v. Lipscomb, 455 Pa. 525, 317 A.2d 205 (1974), we reversed the judgments of sentence, having found that certain remarks of the district attorney were prejudicial and denied the defendants a fair trial. The comments found objectionable by us in Cronin and Lipscomb are remarkably similar to those made by the district attorney in the instant case. Included in the prosecutor’s closing argument to the jury in Cronin, were the following remarks,

“I say to you that this defendant is guilty of a conspiracy, with Jesse James and William Flynn, and he is guilty of the burglary through this conspiracy and attempted robbery through this conspiracy, and of the murder of Louis Cooper through this conspiracy, and the assault and battery, aggravated assault and battery with intent to kill, through this conspiracy, and the only way, the only way you cannot find this defendant guilty of murder of the first degree is for Louis Cooper to walk through that door.” (Emphasis in original.)
464 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
387 A.2d 854, 479 Pa. 100, 1978 Pa. LEXIS 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-evans-pa-1978.