Commonwealth v. Fields

421 A.2d 1051, 491 Pa. 609, 1980 Pa. LEXIS 868

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: October 31, 1980
• Docket: 195
• Status: Published

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

LARSEN, Justice.

On June 4, 1979, appellant Harold Fields was brought to trial before a jury on one count each of murder of the first degree, murder of the third degree, voluntary manslaughter, carrying a firearm without a license, and former convict owning a firearm. Three days into the trial, the court, upon motion by appellant, declared a mistrial. On September 11, 1979, appellant filed an Application to Dismiss Indictments on the grounds that a new trial would violate his right not to be twice placed in jeopardy. The trial court denied the application and this direct appeal followed.¹

Appellant’s double jeopardy claim is based on the contention that appellant was forced to request a mistrial because of misconduct on the part of the prosecutor. We have reviewed the record and find this contention to be without merit.

Accordingly, the trial court’s denial of appellant’s Application to Dismiss Indictments is affirmed and the case is remanded for appropriate proceedings.

NIX, J., filed a concurring opinion in which FLAHERTY, J., joined. ROBERTS, J., filed a concurring and dissenting opinion.

1 . The denial of a defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss an indictment on double jeopardy grounds is final and directly appealable to this Court. Commonwealth v. Lee, 490 Pa. 346, 349, 416 A.2d 503, 504 (1980). See also, Commonwealth v. Bolden, 472 Pa. 602, 610-14, 373 A.2d 90, 93-95 (1977).