Commonwealth v. Royster

372 A.2d 1194, 472 Pa. 581, 1977 Pa. LEXIS 661
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 28, 1977
Docket422
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 372 A.2d 1194 (Commonwealth v. Royster) 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. Royster, 372 A.2d 1194, 472 Pa. 581, 1977 Pa. LEXIS 661 (Pa. 1977).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

O’BRIEN, Justice.

Appellant, Robert J. Royster, was tried by a judge sitting with a jury and was adjudged guilty of murder in the first degree for the shooting death of Charlotte Jami-son. Postverdict motions were denied and appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment. This appeal followed.

The facts surrounding this appeal are as follows. On October 31, 1973, appellant entered Sonny’s Lounge, [584]*584Philadelphia, and began to argue with the barmaid, Mildred Cerdan. During this argument the decedent, Charlotte Jamison, joined Mrs. Cerdan in arguing with appellant. Appellant made some violent threats and brandished a revolver during the argument. • Appellant then walked toward the door, turned and fired the gun, the bullet fatally striking the decedent, Charlotte Jami-son.

Appellant first argues that the court below erred in failing to compel production of the complete police investigative file pursuant to a subpoena duces tecum. We do not agree. Appellant bases his argument on the United States Supreme Court decision in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), which dealt with the suppression of evidence favorable to the defense.

In the instant case, defense counsel subpoenaed Detective Twyman, the chief investigating police officer for this case.1 The subpoena duces tecum requested the investigative file concerning the Jamison homicide.

At a sidebar conference defense counsel stated “that the defendant is entitled to those statements and [the case cited by defense counsel] implies in the cases behind it that . . . the information will tend to bear on his guilt or punishment . . . ” The district attorney responded that he had complied with the mandates of Brady, supra, by furnishing to defense counsel all the exculpatory evidence in the district attorney’s file.

The United States Supreme Court in United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 392 (filed June 24, 1976), in discussing the scope of discovery mandated by Brady, stated:

“The Court of Appeals appears to have assumed that the prosecutor has a constitutional obligation to disclose any information that might affect the jury’s [585]*585verdict. That statement of a constitutional standard of materiality approaches the ‘sporting theory of justice’ which the Court expressly rejected in Brady. For a jury’s appraisal of a case ‘might’ be affected by an improper or trivial consideration as well as by evidence giving rise to a legitimate doubt on the issue of guilt. If everything that might influence a jury must be disclosed, the only way a prosecutor could discharge his constitutional duty would be to allow complete discovery of his files as a matter of routine practice.
“Whether or not procedural rules authorizing such broad discovery might be desirable, the Constitution surely does not demand that much. While expressing the opinion that representatives of the State may not ‘suppress substantial material evidence,’ former Chief Justice Traynor of the California Supreme Court has pointed out that ‘they are under no duty to report sua sponte to the defendant all that they learn about the case and about their witnesses.’ In re Imbler, 60 Cal. 2d 554, 35 Cal.Rptr. 293, 301, 387 P.2d 6, 14 (1963). And this Court recently noted that there is ‘no constitutional requirement that the prosecution make a complete and detailed accounting to the defense of all police investigatory work on the case.’ Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 795, 92 S.Ct. 2562, 2568, 33 L.Ed.2d 706. The mere possibility that an item of undisclosed information might have helped the defense, or might have affected the outcome of the trial, does not establish ‘materiality’ in the constitutional sense.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Moreover, this Court in Commonwealth v. Martin, 465 Pa. 134, 165, 348 A.2d 391, 407 (1975) (a plurality opinion by Mr. Justice Pomeroy joined by former Mr. Chief Justice Jones and Mr. Justice O’Brien), in discussing the duty of the trial court to conduct an in camera inspection of the Commonwealth’s files, stated:

“In the case at bar the Commonwealth agreed to supply to appellant any evidence of an exculpatory na[586]*586ture. See n. 12 supra. No such material was forthcoming, however, for the prosecution represented to the trial court, as it does in this Court, that in fact it had in its possession no evidence that would tend to exculpate Martin. Martin contends that it should be the court’s judgment, not that of the prosecution, which controls in a matter of such importance. The trial court declined to conduct an in camera inspection of the results of the prosecution’s investigation in order to make its own independent appraisal of the evidence. We agree that it had no obligation so to do. As the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has put it, the rule of Brady ‘does not make it incumbent upon the trial judge to rummage through the file on behalf of the defendant.’ ” (Citations omitted.)

In the instant case, appellant sought complete disclosure of a police investigative file. We are of the opinion that neither Brady nor Pa.R.Crim.P. 310 relating to pretrial discovery required such disclosure.

Appellant next argues that the court below erred in permitting the introduction into evidence of his gun when it could not be established that the weapon was involved in the instant homicide. We do not agree.

The facts surrounding the above issue are: On November 14, 1973, two weeks after the shooting, at appellant’s preliminary hearing defense counsel promised to deliver the questioned weapon to the district attorney. Although the offer to surrender the weapon was made during a discussion of the amount of bail, the record does not indicate any stipulation or limitation upon the Commonwealth’s subsequent use of the revolver. The Commonwealth performed ballistics tests but because of the failure to find the bullets that actually killed Jamison, no comparison could be made with appellant’s weapon.

In Commonwealth v. Yount, 455 Pa. 303, 314 A.2d 242 (1974), in discussing the admissibility and relevancy of a [587]*587pen knife found on the defendant’s person, but not conclusively shown to be the weapon used in the slaying, this court stated:

“ . . . ‘The fact that the accused had a weapon or implement suitable to the commission of the crime charged, such as a knife ... is always a proper ingredient of the case for the prosecution.’ 1 Wharton’s Criminal Evidence § 157 at 289-90 (13th ed. C. Torcia 1972).
“This relevant evidence clearly was admissible. As this Court recently held in Commonwealth v. Ford, 451 Pa. 81, 84, 301 A.2d 856, 857 (1973): ‘[Positive testimony that the knife in question was actually the murder weapon is not required prior to introduction into evidence. . . .

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Koller Concrete, Inc. v. Tube City IMS, LLC
115 A.3d 312 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)
Commonwealth v. Ellis
581 A.2d 595 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Commonwealth v. Bolden
534 A.2d 456 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Upchurch
513 A.2d 995 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Stehley
504 A.2d 854 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Checca
491 A.2d 1358 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Commonwealth v. Spotts
491 A.2d 132 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Commonwealth v. Hassine
490 A.2d 438 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Commonwealth v. Lark
462 A.2d 1329 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. March
454 A.2d 567 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Commonwealth v. Coccioletti
425 A.2d 387 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Commonwealth v. Watson
419 A.2d 623 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Commonwealth v. Weakland
417 A.2d 690 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Commonwealth v. Williams
410 A.2d 880 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
People v. Hatfield
390 N.E.2d 453 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1979)
Commonwealth v. Kirkwood
6 Pa. D. & C.3d 449 (Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, 1978)
Commonwealth v. Gartner
381 A.2d 114 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Commonwealth v. Royster
372 A.2d 1194 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
372 A.2d 1194, 472 Pa. 581, 1977 Pa. LEXIS 661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-royster-pa-1977.