Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1972

Commonwealth v. Johnson

Superior Court of Pennsylvania · Decided November 28, 1972 · Cercone, Hoffman, Hoppman, Jacobs, Packed, Spaulding, Watkins, Wright

223 Pa. Super. 156; 297 A.2d 504; 1972 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1071

Opinion of the Court

Opinion

Per Curiam,

Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Dissenting Opinion

Dissenting Opinion by

Spaulding, J.:

I respectfully dissent.

Appellant contends that, taken together, the charge in this case, which urged the jury to attempt to agree on a verdict,1 and the instructions of the trial court on *158applying the standard of reasonable doubt deprived him of a fair trial. We were faced with the identical issue in Commonwealth v. McCoy, 219 Pa. Superior Ct. 298, 279 A. 2d 237 (1971), which was an appeal by-appellant’s co-defendant. I would reverse the order of the court below and grant a new trial for the reasons stated in my Dissenting Opinion in McCoy, id., in which Judges Montgomery and Hoppman joined.

Hoppman, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.

Although not identical in wording the charge constituted an “Allen Charge”, Allen v. United States, 164 U.S. 492, 501-2 (1896), which our Supreme Court has now prospectively overruled. Commonwealth v. Spencer, 442 Pa. 328, 275 A. 2d 299 (1971), upholding *158the decision of this Court at 216 Pa. Superior Ct. 169, 263 A. 2d 923 (1970).

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.