Commonwealth v. Meekins
| Decision Date | 11 May 1979 |
| Citation | 403 A.2d 591,266 Pa.Super. 157 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Pete MEEKINS, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Submitted Dec. 8, 1978.
Roy Davis, Asst. Public Defender, Media, for appellant.
David E. Fritchey, Asst. Dist. Atty., Chief, Law and Appeals Unit Media, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Before CERCONE, President Judge, and HESTER and HOFFMAN, JJ.
Appellant Pete Meekins has twice stood trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County on charges of burglary, theft, and receiving stolen property. Both proceedings terminated prematurely in mistrials, once because the jury was deadlocked and once upon appellant's own motion. When the Commonwealth moved for trial still a third time, appellant filed a motion to dismiss the charges on the ground that another trial would violate his rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This motion was denied and an immediate appeal taken to this Court. [1] We affirm.
The charges grew out of an incident occurring on the evening of January 11, 1977 in Chester, Pennsylvania. At approximately 8:30 p m. that night, the victim Melvin Wade walked into his home on West Seventh Street and saw in his kitchen an intruder carrying various items belonging to Wade. The intruder immediately took his leave out the back door, pursued closely by Wade. Outside, the burglar was joined by several confederates and the group, fleeing on foot down a back alley, was able to elude Wade. Appellant Pete Meekins was thereafter arrested and charged with the crime and was identified by Wade as the perpetrator.
As already stated, appellant's first trial, on June 23-24, 1977, ended when the court Sua sponte declared a mistrial after ascertaining the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. [2] The second jury trial, held October 4, 1977, was aborted when the complainant Wade became extremely uncooperative on the witness stand and offered series of gratuitous remarks prejudicial to appellant's cause. Early in the trial, in an answer unresponsive to the assistant district attorney's question, Wade stated:
Appellant's counsel moved for a mistrial, but then withdrew the motion.
Wade's recalcitrant demeanor continued unabated. Later, he volunteered:
THE WITNESS: Your Honor, I am saying this, as I mentioned to him, that there is no way I am going to get fair justice, me being black, him being black, and all the jurors are white, they don't live in Chester! They don't know what the black problems are in the cities! That's your problem! And that's why they threw the last case out! Because we had an all white jury! And they don't know what what the they don't know the good guys from the bad guys in Chester, and all we're doing is wasting time and you're fining me more money. I came in here to get a thousand, It's costing me a hundred plus three thousand. And we don't have the proper tools here to get a job done. You can't take a pickfork and do a job that you need a steamshovel to do. It's just that simple. Now, I've said what I had to say. N.T. 37-8.
Because of the reference to the prior trial, counsel again requested a mistrial. The court reserved a ruling. Later still, Wade stated, "If you live down there (apparently referring to Chester) you know who the thieves are." N.T. 41-2. Counsel renewed his motions for a mistrial, believing the statement prejudicial. The court again reserved a ruling, but when the Commonwealth rested, counsel's motion for a mistrial was granted. Appellant now contends that a third trial will violate his right not to be placed twice in jeopardy.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment protects a defendant in a criminal proceeding against multiple punishments or successive prosecutions for the same offense. Abney v. U. S., 431 U.S. 651, 97 S.Ct. 2034, 52 L.Ed.2d 651 (1977); U. S. v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 96 S.Ct. 1075, 47 L.Ed.2d 267 (1976); Commonwealth v. Hogan, 482 Pa. 333, 393 A.2d 1133 (1978). [4] At the core of this Constitutional safeguard is the belief that "the State with all its resources and powers should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuous state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty." U. S. v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 98 S.Ct. 2187, 2192, 57 L.Ed.2d 65 (1978); Dinitz, supra 424 U.S. at 606, 96 S.Ct. 1075; Hogan, supra 393 A.2d at 1134. Whenever a mistrial is declared, the defendant's "valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal" is also implicated. Wade v. Hunter, 336 U.S. 684, 689, 69 S.Ct. 834, 837, 93 L.Ed. 974 (1949). Cf. U. S. v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 91 S.Ct. 547, 27 L.Ed.2d 543 (1971).
The double jeopardy proscription does not mean, however, that every time a defendant is put to trial before a competent tribunal he is entitled to go free if the trial fails to end in a final judgment. Illinois v. Sommerville, 410 U.S. 458, 470, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 35 L.Ed.2d 425 (1973); Commonwealth v. Stewart, 456 Pa. 447, 317 A.2d 616 (1974). Thus, the trial court retains inherent power to discharge the jury before verdict whenever, in its opinion, taking all circumstances into consideration, there is a manifest necessity for the act, or the ends of public justice would otherwise be defeated. U. S. v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 43 L.Ed.2d 232 (1975); Sommerville, supra; U. S. v. Perez, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 579, 6 L.Ed. 165 (1824); Commonwealth v. Robson, 461 Pa. 615, 337 A.2d 573 (1975); Commonwealth v. Carson, 259 Pa.Super. 183, 393 A.2d 778 (1978). This is true even if the mistrial is declared Sua sponte over defendant's objection and hence a subsequent retrial for the same charges is not offensive to the Double Jeopardy Clause, so long as manifest necessity justified the termination of the initial proceeding. Compare, Commonwealth v. White, 476 Pa. 350, 382 A.2d 1205 (1978); Commonwealth v. Brown, 451 Pa. 395, 301 A.2d 876 (1973); Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 460 Pa. 686, 334 A.2d 588 (1975) with Commonwealth v. Ferguson, 446 Pa. 24, 285 A.2d 189 (1971); Commonwealth v. Wideman, 453 Pa. 119, 306 A.2d 894 (1971); Commonwealth v. Haefner, --- Pa.Super. ---, 399 A.2d 707 (1979); cf. Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 109(4); Anno. 77 A.L.R.3d 1143.
Quite different considerations must necessarily obtain when the mistrial has been granted at the defendant's request. "Where circumstances develop not attributable to prosecutorial or judicial overreaching, a motion by the defendant for mistrial is ordinarily assumed to remove any barrier to reprosecution, even if the defendant's motion is necessitated by prosecutorial or judicial error." U. S. v. Jorn, supra, 400 U.S. at 485, 91 S.Ct. at 557; Dinitz, supra, 424 U.S. at 607, 96 S.Ct. 1075; Commonwealth v. Bolden, 472 Pa. 602, 373 A.2d 90 (1977); cf. U. S. v. Tateo, 377 U.S. 463, 467-8, 84 S.Ct. 1587, 12 L.Ed.2d 448 (1964). The rationale for the rule was well stated by the Supreme Court in Dinitz :
(I)t is evident that when judicial or prosecutorial error seriously prejudices a defendant, he may have little interest in completing the trial and obtaining a verdict from the first jury. The defendant may reasonably conclude that a continuation of the tainted proceeding would result in a conviction followed by a lengthy appeal and, if a reversal is secured, by a second prosecution. . . . The important consideration, for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause, is that the defendant retain primary control over the course to be followed in the event of such error.
424 U.S. at 608, 609, 96 S.Ct. at 1080 (footnote omitted).
See also, Lee v. U. S., 432 U.S. 23, 97 S.Ct. 2141, 53 L.Ed.2d 80 (1977).
Pennsylvania's decisions have consistently recognized that, ordinarily, a defendant who moves for, and is granted, a mistrial may be retried. Commonwealth v. Wright, 439 Pa. 198, 266 A.2d 651 (1970); Commonwealth v. Myers, 422 Pa. 180 220 A.2d 859 (1966); Commonwealth v. Rios, 246 Pa.Super. 479, 371 A.2d 937 (1977); Commonwealth v. Reeves, 218 Pa.Super. 88, 272 A.2d 197 (1970); cf. Commonwealth v. Manley, 252 Pa.Super. 77, 380 A.2d 1290 (1977); Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 460 Pa. 686, 334 A.2d 588 (1975); Commonwealth v. McGlory, 226 Pa.Super. 493, fn 3, 313 A.2d 326, fn 3 (1973). [5] The only exception to this well-established rule is where judicial or prosecutorial action is intended to provoke mistrial requests and thereby subject the defendant to the substantial burden imposed by multiple prosecutions. The Double Jeopardy Clause will thus bar retrial where bad faith conduct by judge or prosecutor threatens to harass an accused and is designed to invite a mistrial so as to afford the prosecution a more favorable opportunity to convict. Dinitz, supra 424 U.S. at 611, 96 S.Ct. 1075; Downum v. U. S., 372 U.S. 734, 83 S.Ct. 1033, 10 L.Ed.2d 100 (1963); Myers, supra. When such governmental overreaching is found to exist, the courts have not hesitated to forbid a retrial, notwithstanding the initial proceeding was aborted at the defendant's behest. See, e. g. U. S. v. Martin, 561 F.2d 135 (8 Cir., 1977); U. S. v....
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