Commonwealth v. Phillips, M., Pet

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: September 25, 2024
• Docket: 96 WAL 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA WESTERN DISTRICT

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : No. 96 WAL 2024 : Respondent : : Petition for Allowance of Appeal : from the Unpublished v. : Memorandum and Order of the : Superior Court at No. 1246 WDA : 2022 entered on February 13, 2024, MICHAEL CRAIG PHILLIPS, : affirming the Judgment of Sentence : of the Beaver County Court of Petitioner : Common Pleas at No. CP-04-CR- : 0001529-2020 entered on November 5, 2021

ORDER

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 25th day of September, 2024, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal

is GRANTED, the order of the Superior Court is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED

to the Superior Court to consider petitioner’s claim that the admission of the photo

prejudiced him, and to determine whether the trial court’s error in admitting the photo was

harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Pa.R.E. 103(b) (“Once the court rules

definitively on the record ― either before or at trial ― a party need not renew an objection

or offer of proof to preserve a claim of error for appeal.”). Petitioner’s failure to object to

the cautionary instruction regarding the photo waived the issue of whether the instruction

was erroneous, not the preserved claim that the introduction of the photo was prejudicial.

See Commonwealth v. LaCava, 666 A.2d 221, 228 & n.8 (Pa. 1995) (holding claim of

erroneous jury instruction would normally be waived in absence of objection but nonetheless reaching merits under relaxed waiver rule formerly applicable in capital

cases).

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