Com. v. Washington, A. ( 2018 )

J-A22045-18
2018 PA Super 289COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
ANTHONY WASHINGTON :
:
Appellant : No. 1099 EDA 2017
Appeal from the Order March 2, 2017
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-51-CR-1210371-1993
BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., NICHOLS, J., and STEVENS*, P.J.E.
OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED OCTOBER 24, 2018
Appellant Anthony Washington appeals from the Order entered in the
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on March 2, 2017, denying his
“Motion to Preclude Retrial and Dismiss All Cha[r]ges on the Basis of
Intentional Prosecutorial Misconduct, Pursuant to the Double Jeopardy Clause
of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Federal Constitution.” After careful
review, we affirm.1
____________________________________________
1 “While an order denying a motion to dismiss charges on double jeopardy
grounds is technically interlocutory, it is appealable as of right as long as the
trial court certifies the motion as non-frivolous.” Commonwealth v. Lynn,
192 A.3d 194, 196 n. 1 (Pa.Super. 2018) (citing Pa.R.Crim.P. 587(B)(6);
Commonwealth v. Barber, 940 A.2d 369, 376 (Pa.Super. 2007) (“It is well
settled in Pennsylvania that a defendant is entitled to an immediate
interlocutory appeal as of right from an order denying a non-frivolous motion
to dismiss on state or federal double jeopardy grounds.”)). In the matter sub
judice, the trial court denied Appellant’s motion to dismiss on its merits and
determined it was non-frivolous. See Trial Court Opinion, filed 7/26/17, at 3.
Thus, under Pa.R.Crim.P. 587 (B)(6), this rendered the denial of Appellant’s
____________________________________
* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
J-A22045-18
The trial court aptly set forth the procedural history and relevant facts
herein as follows:
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The Appellant was found guilty of first degree murder and
sentenced to death on December 9, 1994. Commonwealth v.
Washington, 700 A.2d 400 (Pa. 1997). The Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction and death sentence on direct
appeal. Id. On August 20, 2007, [Appellant] filed a motion to stay
execution and to appoint counsel to represent him in a to-be-filed
habeas petition, which was granted on August 23, 2007.
Washington v. Beard, 2015 WL 234719 at *1 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 16,
2015).
[Appellant] filed a federal habeas petition on May 5, 2008.
Id. On January 16, 2015, after an evidentiary hearing, Judge
Stengel found that the Commonwealth violated both Brady1 and
Bruton2, vacated the Appellant's conviction and sentence, and
remanded the matter for a new trial. Id.The Defender Association of Philadelphia was appointed as
counsel and filed a motion/memorandum titled "Motion to
Preclude Retrial and Dismiss all Cha[r]ges on the Basis of
Intentional Prosecutorial Misconduct, Pursuant to the Double
Jeopardy Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Federal
Constitution" on July 13, 2016. The Commonwealth filed
"Commonwealth's Answer to Defendant's Motion to Preclude
Retrial and Dismiss All Charges on the Basis of Intentional
Prosecutorial Misconduct" on August 17, 2016.3
A hearing on the motion was scheduled for March 2, 2017.
Appellant's presence was waived by counsel. N.T. 3/2/2017, p.
3.[2] The Commonwealth and Appellant's counsel stated that both
sides intended to rely on the pleadings filed in this matter and
argument. N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 4-5. After consideration of the
pleadings and arguments of counsel, this [c]ourt denied
Appellant's motion, but found that the motion was not frivolous
____________________________________________
motion immediately appealable as a collateral order, and the instant appeal is
properly before us. See Lynn, supra.
2 Despite the trial court’s statement to the contrary, the notes of testimony
reveal that Appellant was present, sworn, and testified at the March 2, 2017,
hearing. N.T. Hearing, 3/2/17, at 35.
-2-
J-A22045-18
and the denial was automatically appealable as a collateral issue.
N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 32.
The Appellant filed a notice of appeal on March 29, 2017.
On the same day, this [c]ourt ordered the Appellant to file a
1925(b) statement within twenty-one (21) days of the filing. On
April 11, 2017, Appellant filed a request for an extension of time
to file the 1925(b) statement because the notes of testimony were
unavailable. Appellant requested an extension for the 1925(b)
statement for twenty-one (21) days after the notes of testimony
were made available. This [c]ourt granted the extension on April
13, 2017.
Notes of testimony were uploaded to the Court Reporting
System on May 2, 2017. The Appellant filed a "Statement of Errors
Complained of on Appeal" on June 21, 2017. Counsel for the
Appellant stated that the notes of testimony were received on
June 2, 2017. This [c]ourt notes that another copy of the notes of
testimony was uploaded on June 1, 2017.
Appellant asserts that this [c]ourt erred in not finding that
the conduct of the prosecutor was "deliberate, egregious, and was
intended to prejudice the defendant and deny him a fair trial."
Appellant's Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal, page 2.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The following factual statement is incorporated from District
Judge Stengel's opinion in Washington v. Beard, 2015 WL 234719at *1 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 16, 2015). No additional facts were presented
in the Appellant's or Commonwealth's pleadings.4
a) Facts of Appellant's Trial
On January 23, 1993, two men robbed a Save-A-Lot in the
Kensington Area of Philadelphia. Id. During the course of the
robbery, the emergency gate to the front of the store started to
close, causing the robbers to flee. Id. They were pursued by Tracy
Lawson, an unarmed security guard working at the Save-A-Lot.
Id. Police Officer Gerald Smith, who was moonlighting as a
security guard at an adjacent store, joined the pursuit and fired a
shot at the fleeing men. Id. One of the robbers fired a shot in
Lawson's direction in response. Id. Lawson was struck in the head
by the bullet and died of the wound. Id.The Appellant and Derrick Teagle were arrested and charged
with robbery, murder, and related offenses. Id. Teagle gave a
statement to the police before being arrested. Id. This statement
-3-
J-A22045-18
outlined his involvement in the robbery and named the Appellant
as the other robber and as the person who shot Lawson. Id. The
Appellant's name was replaced with "blank" when the statement
was read to the jury at trial. Id. Neither Teagle nor the Appellant
testified at trial. Id.The identity of the shooter was a contested issue at trial. Id.
at *23. Several witnesses identified Teagle and/or the Appellant
as one of the robbers on the night of the shooting. Id. Two Save-
A-Lot employees identified Teagle as the only person they saw
with a gun the night of the robbery. Id. Officer Smith identified
the Appellant as the robber who shot Lawson, both at a line-up
and at trial. Id. The Appellant's then former girlfriend and her
sister both testified that the Appellant admitted to being the
shooter and the Appellant's brother testified that he saw the
Appellant and Teagle sitting with piles of money later that night.
Id.
During closing arguments, ADA Gilson used Teagle's
statement in a manner which "broke" the redactions of the
Appellant's name. Id. After the second break in redaction, defense
counsel objected and requested a mistrial. Id. The judge
admonished ADA Gilson, but denied the request for mistrial. Id.
Instead, the judge gave a cautionary instruction to the jury,
reminding them that Teagle's statement could not be used in
determining the guilt of the Appellant and any reference to the
Appellant while discussing Teagle's statement must be ignored.
Id. However, ADA Gilson implicated the Appellant while
referencing Teagle's statement two more times. Id. Defense
counsel once again objected and requested a mistrial. Id. The
judge again admonished ADA Gilson and told him he was close to
having a mistrial, but instead allowed the closing argument to
continue after giving another cautionary instruction to the jury.
Id. The jury convicted the Appellant of first degree murder and
sentenced him to death.5 Id.
b) Brady and Bruton Violations
Judge Stengel determined that the Commonwealth violated
[Brady] by failing to turn over four documents prior to the trial.
Id. Three documents were separate descriptions of the robbers
from the Philadelphia Police Department. Id. In each document,
the robber matching Teagle's description was described as having
a gun. Id. Further, none of the documents placed a gun in the
hand of the other robber. Id. The documents were attached to a
motion to reconsider the Appellant's supplemental PCRA petition
-4-
J-A22045-18
on July 24, 2001. Id. It is still unclear as to how the Appellant
found this evidence.
The fourth document was a police activity sheet dated
February 25, 1993, showing that three witnesses to the robbery
were shown a photo array. Id. The photo array included the
Appellant, but no witness was able to make a positive
identification. Id. However, two of these witnesses positively
identified the Appellant at trial. Id. This fourth document was not
produced until federal discovery was ordered. Id.
Judge Stengel concluded that the documents in the
aggregate may have well been material to the Appellant's case
and that there was a "reasonable probability that the disclosure of
these descriptions would have changed the outcome of the trial,
particularly in regard to who the jury found to be the shooter." Id.
at *25.
Judge Stengel also found that ADA Gilson violated Bruton
when he implicated the Appellant using Teagle's statement.6 Id.
at *14. ADA Gilson "relied on an inference that Washington was
identified in Teagle's statement as one of the gun-toting robbers."
Id. at *16. By ignoring the redactions, the prosecutor presented
to the jury a statement where "Washington [was] featured as the
other robber and, most likely, the shooter." Id. at *16.
____
1 Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).
2 Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968).
3 ADA Mark Gilson submitted the Commonwealth's answer and
argued the motion before this [c]ourt. ADA Mark Gilson was also
the prosecutor who tried the Appellant in 1994.
4 Counsel for the Appellant incorporated Judge Stengel's opinion
by reference in his motion/memorandum.
5 Teagle was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced
to life imprisonment.
6 Judge Stengel also found that replacing the Appellant's name
with "blank" was an improper redaction under Gray v. Maryland,
118 S.Ct. 1151 (1998). Washington, 2015 WL 234719 at *9.
Trial Court Opinion, filed 7/26/17, at 2-8.
In his brief, Appellant presents the following Statement of the Question
Involved:
-5-
J-A22045-18
Did not the court err and abuse its discretion in denying the
defense motion to preclude retrial and dismiss all charges, where
the prosecutorial misconduct at issue was deliberate, egregious,
and was intended to prejudice [Appellant] and deny him a fair
trial?
Brief for Appellant at 3. In considering this claim, we are guided by the
following:
An appeal grounded in double jeopardy raises a question
of constitutional law. This [C]ourt's scope of review in
making a determination on a question of law is, as
always, plenary. As with all questions of law, the
appellate standard of review is de novo[.] To the extent
that the factual findings of the trial court impact its
double jeopardy ruling, we apply a more deferential
standard of review to those findings:
Where issues of credibility and weight of the evidence
are concerned, it is not the function of the appellate
court to substitute its judgment based on a cold record
for that of the trial court. The weight to be accorded
conflicting evidence is exclusively for the fact finder,
whose findings will not be disturbed on appeal if they are
supported by the record.
Commonwealth v. Graham, 109 A.3d 733, 736 (Pa. Super.
2015) (citation omitted).
The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the Fifth Amendment to the
United States Constitution and Article 1, § 10 of the Pennsylvania
Constitution prohibit retrial where prosecutorial misconduct during
trial provokes a criminal defendant into moving for a mistrial. See
Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 679, 102 S.Ct. 2083, 72
L.Ed.2d 416 (1982); Commonwealth v. Simons, 514 Pa. 10,
522 A.2d 537, 540 (1987). However, Article 1, § 10 of the
Pennsylvania Constitution offers broader protection than its
federal counterpart in that
the double jeopardy clause of the Pennsylvania
Constitution prohibits retrial of a defendant not only
when prosecutorial misconduct is intended to provoke
the defendant into moving for a mistrial, but also when
the conduct of the prosecutor is intentionally undertaken
to prejudice the defendant to the point of the denial of a
fair trial.
-6-
J-A22045-18
Commonwealth v. Smith, 532 Pa. 177, 615 A.2d 321, 325
(1992). Pennsylvania has adopted a strict remedy for intentional
prosecutorial misconduct:
[U]nder Pennsylvania jurisprudence, it is the
intentionality behind the Commonwealth's subversion of
the court process, not the prejudice caused to the
defendant, that is inadequately remedied by appellate
review or retrial. By and large, most forms of undue
prejudice caused by inadvertent prosecutorial error or
misconduct can be remedied in individual cases by
retrial. Intentional prosecutorial misconduct, on the
other hand, raises systematic concerns beyond a specific
individual's right to a fair trial that are left unaddressed
by retrial.
Commonwealth v. Kearns, 70 A.3d 881, 884–885 (Pa. Super.
2013) (footnote and emphasis omitted).
Commonwealth v. Lynn, 192 A.3d 194, 199-200 (Pa.Super. 2018).
“[B]ecause of the compelling societal interest in prosecuting criminal
defendants to conclusion, our Supreme Court has recognized that dismissal of
charges is an extreme sanction that should be imposed sparingly and only in
cases of blatant prosecutorial misconduct.” Commonwealth v. Wilson, 147
A.3d 7, 13 (Pa.Super. 2016) (citations omitted).
Appellant generally asserts that each of the three aspects of impropriety
the District Court identified as having occurred during trial and being sufficient
to grant the writ of habeas corpus was “deliberate, egregious, and was
intended to prejudice [Appellant] and deny him a fair trial.” Brief for Appellant
at 17 (referencing District Judge Stengel’s Opinion in Washington v. Beard,
2015 WL 234719 (E.D. Pa. filed Jan. 16, 2015) (unpublished memorandum)).
Appellant maintains the prosecutor intentionally attempted to violate the
-7-
J-A22045-18
redaction of Teagle’s statement in an effort to use it against Appellant despite
repeated admonishments from the trial court. Id. at 22-23, 25.
In addition, Appellant contends the Commonwealth suppressed
evidence in the form of the three, contemporaneous witness statements that
identified Teagle as the shooter along with the police activity sheet which
indicated three eyewitnesses were shown photographs of Appellant and could
not identify him as a participant in the robbery. Id. at 23-24. Appellant posits
that the aforementioned is the same type of “prosecutorial overreach” which
led to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s barring retrial in Commonwealth
v. Smith, 532 Pa. 177, 615 A.2d 321 (1992) and in Commonwealth v.
Martorano, 559 Pa. 533, 741 A.2d 1221 (1999).
In Smith, our Supreme Court examined the protection the Double
Jeopardy Clause affords in a case involving prosecutorial misconduct pursuant
to the standard set forth in Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 102 S.Ct.
2083, 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982). The Smith Court broadened the double
jeopardy protection provided by the federal courts and United States
Constitution requiring the prosecution to have intentionally caused a mistrial
through misconduct. Specifically, the Smith court held:
the double jeopardy clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution
prohibits retrial of a defendant not only when prosecutorial
misconduct is intended to provoke the defendant into moving for
a mistrial, but also when the conduct of the prosecutor is
intentionally undertaken to prejudice the defendant to the point
of the denial of a fair trial.
Smith, 532 Pa. at 186, 615 A.2d at 325.
-8-
J-A22045-18
Determining that the Commonwealth intentionally had prejudiced the
defendant and deprived him of a fair trial when it failed to disclose material
exculpatory physical evidence, suppressed evidence while arguing in favor of
the death sentence on direct appeal, and attempted to discredit a state trooper
who had testified as to existence of the exculpatory evidence, the Smith Court
held that the defendant’s double jeopardy rights would be violated if he faced
a new trial and discharged him.
Several years later in Martorano, the defendants were awarded a new
trial based upon prosecutorial misconduct. On remand, the trial court denied
the defendants' motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds; however, a
panel of this Court reversed and held that a retrial would constitute double
jeopardy. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed and in doing so amplified
the Smith standard. The Supreme Court held that even absent the
concealment of evidence, pervasive prosecutorial misconduct throughout the
trial court proceedings had demonstrated the prosecutor's intent to deprive
the defendants of a fair trial and that double jeopardy barred their retrial
where the prosecutor:
acted in bad faith throughout the trial, consistently making
reference to evidence that the trial court had ruled inadmissible,
continually def[ied] the trial court's rulings on objections and ...
repeatedly insist[ed] that there was fingerprint evidence linking
[the defendants] to the crime when the prosecutor knew for a fact
that no such evidence existed.
Martorano, 559 Pa. at 538, 741 A.2d at 1223.
-9-
J-A22045-18
In Commonwealth v. Minnis, 83 A.3d 1047 (Pa.Super. 2014) (en
banc), a panel of this Court sitting en banc confirmed that Martorano stands
for the proposition that “where the defendant alleges prosecutorial misconduct
as a basis for double jeopardy protection, the outcome depends on the nature
of the alleged misconduct.” Minnis, 83 A.3d at 1052. For prosecutorial
misconduct to prohibit retrial on double jeopardy grounds, the prosecutor's
conduct must be both egregious and pervasive. Id. at 1052–1053. The
Commonwealth can “therefore engage in misconduct that warrants a new trial
but is not sufficiently egregious to bar mistrial on double jeopardy grounds.”
Id. at 1053 n. 5 (internal citation omitted).
Herein, the trial court, relying upon Commonwealth v. Moose, 623
A.2d 831 (Pa.Super. 1993), appeal denied, 645 A.2d 1317 (Pa. 1994), cert.
denied, 513 U.S. 1060 (1994) concluded retrial is not barred because
Appellant has failed to adduce evidence of intentional prosecutorial
misconduct.3 Specifically, the trial court stated:
Prosecutorial misconduct will only bar retrial when it is
done intentionally to deny the defendant a fair trial, but not when
the defendant is denied a fair trial due to gross negligence on the
part of the prosecution. Commonwealth v. Kearns, 70 A.3d 881(Pa.Super. 2013); See also, Commonwealth v. Burke, 781 A.2d
____________________________________________
3 In Moose, the Commonwealth failed to turn over a statement from a
confidential informant until the first day of trial and never informed the
defendant the informant had made a deal in exchange for his testimony. The
defendant was convicted, but in light of the Commonwealth’s admission on
direct appeal that the informant had made an agreement with it, the defendant
was granted a retrial. Id. at 836.
- 10 -
J-A22045-18
1136 (Pa. 2001); Commonwealth v. Strong, 825 A.2d 685(Pa.Super. 2003).
Judge Stengel found that Brady was violated when four
documents were not disclosed to the Appellant before trial. The
Appellant provided no evidence as to what role, if any, ADA Gilson
played in withholding these documents. This [c]ourt could not
find that ADA Gilson intentionally withheld the document to
deprive the Appellant of a fair trial absent evidence that he was
aware of the existence of the documents during trial.
Judge Stengel also found that ADA Gilson violated Bruton
several times during closing argument, even after being
admonished by the trial judge. Appellant’s counsel argued during
the hearing on the motion that the Bruton violations were, in and
of themselves, sufficient to show that ADA Gilson’s intent was to
deny the Appellant a fair trial. N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 7,8,24. While
ADA Gilson obviously said the sentences that broke redaction, it
is not clear that his intent was to violate Bruton and to deprive the
Appellant of a fair trial.
Appellant’s counsel presented no evidence to support the
assertion that ADA Gilson intentionally acted to prejudice the
Appellant to the point of denying him a fair trial by violating Brady
and Bruton. Based on controlling authority, this [c]ourt disagreed
with the assertion that the egregiousness of the violations alone
proved the intent needed to bar retrial under the standard of
Smith. Supra. For these reasons, this [c]ourt denied the motion
to bar retrial and dismiss the charges against the Appellant.
Failing to turn over four potentially material documents in
addition to four separate breaks of redaction of a non-testifying
co-defendant during closing argument is highly improper and
cannot be condoned. In order to bar retrial and dismiss the
charges against him, however, the Appellant was required to
produce evidence that ADA Gilson intentionally violated Brady and
Bruton in order to deny [him] a fair trial. No such evidence was
produced, therefore retrial cannot be barred Moose, supra.
Therefore, the appropriate remedy is a new trial, which was
ordered by Judge Stengel. Washington, 2015 WL 234719 at *27.
Trial Court Opinion, field 7/26/17, at 12-14.
Based upon our review of the entire record in this matter, we discern
no error on the part of the trial court in reaching this conclusion. Appellant’s
assertions in his motion to preclude retrial and his claims in his appellate brief
- 11 -
J-A22045-18
to the contrary, our review has revealed no instance where Appellant produced
evidence of the Commonwealth’s intent to withhold information or to force a
mistrial.
In fact, Appellant admits the admission of Teagle’s statement was
“arguably in good faith due to the state of the law at the time.” Brief for
Appellant at 20.4 In addition, despite his claims of intentional misconduct
regarding the admission of evidence, Appellant further admits that “no
explanation has ever been provided or determined for [the] flagrant violation
of the prosecutor’s duty to provide all exculpatory evidence to the accused
. . . .” Id. at 24. Indeed, Appellant offered no evidence at the March 2, 2017,
____________________________________________
4 The Prosecutor’s substituting the term “blank” in place of Appellant’s name
when redacting Teagle’s statement did not violate Appellant’s constitutional
right to confrontation at the time of his trial in 1994. See Commonwealth
v. Rainey, 540 Pa. 220, 232, 656 A.2d 1326, 1333 (1995) (stating trial court’s
instruction to the jury informing it that an individual's name had been replaced
with the letter “X” was in accordance with the law). However, the United
States Supreme Court later held that redactions indicated with an obvious
blank, the word “delete,” symbols, or other markers violate the protective rule
established in Bruton v. United States, 88 S.Ct. 1620 (1968). See Gray v.
Maryland, 118 S.Ct. 1151, 1155 (1998). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
thereafter determined that substituting the neutral phrase “the guy” or “the
other guy” for the defendant's name is an appropriate redaction.
Commonwealth v. Travers, 564 Pa. 362, 373, 768 A.2d 845, 851 (2001).
Accordingly, as the Commonwealth states in its brief, although Gray was
applicable to Appellant because it had been decided before his direct appeal
was finalized, “Gray does not demonstrate prosecutorial bad faith in the
redaction of co-defendant Teagle’s statement at trial nearly four years earlier.”
Commonwealth’s Brief at 18.
- 12 -
J-A22045-18
hearing to prove his claim that the prosecutor intentionally withheld the
discovery.
Finally, while we agree with the trial court’s finding that the
prosecutor’s statements during closing argument were highly improper and
may even be considered to be grossly negligent, the record does not support
Appellant’s instant serious allegations that counsel intended to violate Brady
and Bruton in an effort to deny Appellant a fair trial. Following his objection
to the prosecutor’s closing argument, defense counsel argued Appellant was
entitled to a mistrial in light of the prosecutor’s repeated interweaving of
Appellant’s name with “Blank” to suggest Teagle’s confession implicated
Appellant. In response, the prosecutor expressed his belief that he had used
the neutral term “accomplice,” and the trial court provided a curative
instruction at defense counsel’s request. N.T. Trial, 10/7/94, at 97-98.
The prosecutor continued his closing argument only to be interrupted
again by defense counsel’s objection and a second request for a mistrial. Id.
at 99. The ensuing discussion evinces the prosecutor’s apparent ignorance
regarding the ramifications of his choice of words and negates Appellant’s
claims his actions had been intentional:
Mr. Gilson: I identify him as the accomplice, Judge, as
the accomplice.
Mr. Myers: You identify him as an accomplice, you’re
referring to my client. Every time if you into Teagle’s statement
and want to read Teagle’s statement, I don’t mind, but when you
start to weaving it in with my client sitting there, you have a choice
of guns, where did that come from? It only came from Teagle’s
statement. So what do you mean the accomplice, he’s the
- 13 -
J-A22045-18
accomplice here. He’s the one that gave him a choice of guns.
Wait a minute, that’s exactly wat you’re saying to the Jury. And
you can’t do that because you can’t infer in any way that’s my
client.
Mr. Gilson: That’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong. How
else am I going to refer to Derrick Teagle’s statement? I have
that there is [a] conspirator here. I don’t want to call him the
conspirator. We have been using that term in the courtroom so
I’m using the—
THE COURT: Listen, Mr. Gilson, I’m not going to teach
you how to make a —you’re on the verge of having a mistrial if
you keep it up. If you want to say that two people cooperate,
refer to the people identified who were taking up the place
together, simultaneously, but you can’t use Teagle’s statement or
anything contained in that statement to infer who that person is.
If you do, you have violated redaction. I have two choices,
separate trials or shut up. That’s your—
Mr. Gilson: I am not. I am not in any way, shape or
form.
THE COURT: Yes, you are. If you would only read your
closing argument when this case is over you would understand
how you’re violating the rules. Go argue from the evidence or lack
thereof, but don’t implicate [Appellant] by Teagle’s statement in
any way. That’s my ruling.
Id. at 100-01. The prosecutor complied with the trial court’s directive
thereafter.
Therefore, as the trial court aptly noted, the proper remedy in this
situation is not a complete bar to prosecution, but a retrial, which Appellant
already has been awarded. Trial Court Opinion, filed 7/26/17, at 14; Lynn,
supra at 201. In light of our conclusion that Appellant has failed to
demonstrate any of the alleged acts of misconduct were intended to deprive
him of a fair trial, we affirm.
Order affirmed.
- 14 -
J-A22045-18
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 10/24/18
- 15 -