Com. v. Parker

• Decision Date: 18 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 26 EAP 2006.,26 EAP 2006.
• Citation: 919 A.2d 943
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Maurice PARKER, Appellee. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Maurice PARKER, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

919 A.2d 943

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Maurice PARKER, Appellee.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Maurice PARKER, Appellant.

No. 26 EAP 2006.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted September 1, 2006.

Decided April 18, 2007.

Hugh J. Burns, Jr., Esq., Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

MaryAnn F. Swift, Esq., Glenside, for Maurice Parker.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER and BALDWIN, JJ.

MAJORITY OPINION

Justice BALDWIN.

In this case, one of first impression for this Court, we review whether it is proper for a prosecutor to display a potentially inflammatory tangible piece of evidence to the jury during his opening statement. The Superior Court held that allowing the prosecutor to show the jury a handgun during his opening statement was an abuse of the trial court's discretion. Commonwealth v. Parker, 882 A.2d 488, 490 (Pa.Super.2005). Nonetheless, the Superior Court went on to find that the error was harmless. Id. at 494. Both parties sought allowance of appeal from the respective adverse rulings.¹ We consolidated the cases and granted allocatur. For the following reasons, we now affirm the Superior Court's decision to affirm the judgment of sentence, albeit on different grounds.

During the late hours of April 2, 2002, Ms. Sheila Crump accepted a ride from her brother, Dwayne Crump, and his friend, James Washington, to a local store. Upon arrival at the store, Ms. Crump and her brother exited the vehicle and approached the entrance to the store. Maurice Parker, Defendant below, was exiting the store at the same time the Crumps were approaching. According to Ms. Crump, Parker and her brother gave each other an "odd look." Id. at 490. Ms. Crump remained outside of the store while her brother went inside.

Meanwhile, Parker approached James Washington and inquired into whether Dwayne Crump had "a problem" with him while lifting his shirt to reveal a handgun. Id. An argument arose between the two men that prompted Ms. Crump to enter the store and inform her brother of the developments. Dwayne Crump exited the store and told Parker that everything was "cool." Id. However, the argument continued until Parker removed the gun from under his shirt. Ms. Crump and her brother attempted to gain entry into the vehicle in which they had arrived through the passenger-side doors. Their attempt was thwarted when Parker began firing at the car from the driver's side, hitting Mr. Washington. Mr. Washington drove the vehicle from the lot and continued to the local hospital. According to Ms. Crump, Parker continued to fire the gun at the vehicle as it left the store until the gun ran out of bullets. Mr. Washington was treated at the hospital for multiple gunshot wounds.

Three days after the shooting, Ms. Crump was at the rental office of her apartment complex. She noticed that Parker was walking into the building located next to the rental office. She contacted the Housing Authority Police and informed them that she had located the shooter. Officers Stacey Alston and Rosalind Mason set up surveillance of the premises. A short time later, the officers saw Parker and his mother leaving the complex. They stopped him and determined that he was sixteen years old. The officers asked his mother if they could conduct further questioning about the incident in the community center of the complex.

For safety purposes and because of Parker's nervous and fidgety behavior, Parker was handcuffed during the questioning. Parker asked to use the restroom. His request was granted on the condition that his mother accompany him. Officer Alston remained immediately outside the restroom door. While she waited for Parker, she heard a "loud crash" in the toilet and Parker's mother say, "What are you doing with that?" Id. at 491. The officers immediately entered the restroom, retrieved a loaded .38 millimeter revolver from the toilet, and arrested Parker. Parker was charged with attempted murder,² aggravated assault,³ violations of the Uniform Firearms Act,⁴ and possessing an instrument of a crime.⁵ The case was set for trial on February 17, 2004.

Prior to trial, the prosecutor notified the trial court that he intended to show the gun recovered from the toilet to the jury during his opening statement. Defense counsel objected. Defense counsel argued that since the gun would be admitted later at trial, displaying the gun during opening statements would be unnecessary and prejudicial. The trial court found no Pennsylvania authority precluding a prosecutor from displaying a gun during the opening statement. Accordingly, the trial court denied the objection. The trial court did, however, instruct the jury that opening statements by the attorneys are not evidence, and are merely a mechanism by which jurors would learn the nature of the case, and what the attorneys intend to prove.

The Prosecutor displayed the revolver while making the following opening statement:

While [Parker] was in the rest room one of the officers arranges so that she can look from an angle to make sure that nothing was happening. He was fidgety. The officer will testify that as she sees him fidget she hears a clunk, a thud sound. She pulls open the door and sitting inside the toilet is this particular weapon. And for the record, I have made it safe so there is nothing at this point to be concerned about. She seizes that weapon and takes him to the Central Detective Division.

N.T. 2/18/04, at 68-69. Following two days of testimony, the jury convicted Parker of the aforementioned crimes. The trial court sentenced Parker to seven and one-half to fifteen years of incarceration.

Parker appealed to the Superior Court. The court considered the sole issue of "whether the trial court abused its discretion in permitting, over a defense objection, the prosecutor to display a handgun in his opening statement." Parker, 882 A.2d at 490. Ultimately, that court held that the trial court abused its discretion by permitting the prosecutor to display the gun. However, as explained above, the Superior Court subsequently concluded that the error was harmless. Id. at 494-95.

Noting that this was an issue of first impression, the Superior Court resorted to the standard of review applicable to challenges to the admissibility of evidence in order to address the appeal. Under that standard, an appellate court may reverse a trial court only upon an abuse of discretion. Id. at 492 (citing Commonwealth v. Lilliock, 740 A.2d 237, 243 (Pa.Super.1999)). The Superior Court acknowledged that trial courts have broad discretion as to the admissibility of potentially misleading or confusing evidence. Further, a trial court may exclude relevant evidence where its probative value is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or confusion. Id. (citations omitted).

Grafting the admissibility standard onto the unique question presented, the Superior Court determined that, "the definition of what constitutes admissible evidence must be viewed in conjunction with the purpose of opening statements in order to understand why allowing the prosecution to use the handgun in its opening statement constitutes an abuse of discretion." Id. at 492-93. The court noted that the purpose of an opening statement is to inform the jury of the background of the case, how it will proceed, and what each side will attempt to prove. Acknowledging that opening statements are not evidence, the court reasoned that opening statements "can often times be the most critical stages of the trial" where "the jury forms its first and often lasting impression of the case." Id. at 493 (citing Commonwealth v. Montgomery, 533 Pa. 491, 498, 626 A.2d 109, 113 (1993)).

Commenting on the impact of opening statements on juries, the Superior Court found that it is of "paramount importance that the `playing field' be level during the opening statement and that displays which may tend to prejudice the jury should be prohibited." Id. at 493. The panel acknowledged that, to date, no Pennsylvania court has prohibited a prosecutor from displaying a gun during opening statements. Nevertheless, the Superior Court concluded that the "use of the handgun by the prosecution in its opening statement served no purpose but to possibly influence the jury and predispose the jury to finding the accused guilty of the crimes charged." Id. Moreover, the Superior Court held that showing the gun to the jury "could not honestly be said to serve any legitimate purpose except to inflame the jury, and therefore, the decision by the trial judge to permit such a display was unreasonable." Id.

In support of its decision, the Superior Court relied on commentary from the case law of our sister States, which disapproved of displaying tangible pieces of evidence during opening statements. Id. at 493-94 (citing Guerrero v. Smith, 864 S.W.2d 797, 799-800 (Tex.App.1993) (in a medical malpractice case, it was improper for the plaintiff's attorney to display a photograph of the plaintiff's injuries to the jury during opening statement); Wimberli v. State, 536 P.2d 945, 951 (Okla.Crim.App.1975) (criticized prosecutor's display of a knife during opening statement, but held that no prejudice resulted from the display); and People v. Williams, 90 A.D.2d 193, 196, 456 N.Y.S.2d 1008 (N.Y.App.Div.1982) (reversible error where prosecutor pulled a sawed-off shotgun from under his clothing during opening statement)). However, in two footnotes, the court cited cases that are inapposite to its decision. Parker, 882 A.2d at 494 n. 4 (citing Sherley v. Commonwealth, 889 S.W.2d 794, 799 (Ky.1994) (permitting a prosecutor to display a photograph of the victim recovering in a hospital bed because the photograph was admissible to show how the injuries were sustained); and People v. Green, 47 Cal.2d 209, 214-15, 302 P.2d 307, 311-12 (1956) (allowing the use of photographs of the murder victim and the defendant in...