Commonwealth v. Kuebler

399 A.2d 116, 484 Pa. 358, 1979 Pa. LEXIS 511
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 16, 1979·No. 109 and 153·Published·Cited by 58 cases

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

ROBERTS, Justice.

Appellant Freda Kuebler was arrested and charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and recklessly endangering another, for her alleged involvement in the beating death of Edward Fitzgerald. At trial, appellant took the stand and denied the charges. At closing argument, the prosecuting attorney argued that appellant inflicted the fatal blows, summarized appellant’s testimony, and then remarked:

“I submit to you, members of the Jury, that Freda is not right, and everything that she said from that stand, and in every major respect concerning this case was a big lie.”

Immediately after the prosecuting attorney completed his argument, appellant moved for a mistrial. The Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County denied appellant’s motion, and the jury found appellant guilty of murder of the [361]*361third degree, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another. Again, on appellant’s motion for a new trial, the court of common pleas rejected her contention that the prosecuting attorney’s remark was prejudicial, denied the motion, and imposed sentence.

On appeal, appellant renews her claim that the prosecuting attorney’s remark was improper and prejudicial. We agree, reverse judgment of sentence, and remand for a new trial.

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Commonwealth v. Kuebler, 399 A.2d 116, 484 Pa. 358, 1979 Pa. LEXIS 511 (Pa. 1979).

399 A.2d 116 (Commonwealth v. Kuebler) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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