Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988

Baumgardner v. Zimmerman

Baumgardner v. Zimmerman
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · Decided July 27, 1988 · Files, Flaherty, Larsen, McDermott, Nix, Papadakos, Zappala
518 Pa. 514; 544 A.2d 938; 1988 Pa. LEXIS 197

Baumgardner v. Zimmerman

Concurring Opinion

LARSEN, Justice,

concurring.

For procedural reasons I agree that this case should be dismissed as moot. However, it should be pointed out to the prosecutor that he should not, in the grand jury proceedings, assume the position of a jurist. All counsel should be on equal footing and when the prosecutor sits in a judge’s chair behind a judge’s bench, and interrogates witnesses therefrom, he communicates to the members of the Grand Jury that he has some “special” judicial type powers. This distortion impedes the jurors’ ability to fulfill their duty i.e., determine facts.

FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT and PAPADAKOS, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.

Opinion of the Court

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

Upon consideration of the Motions to Dismiss Petition for Review and Petition to Assume Plenary Jurisdiction filed by Respondent, Leroy S. Zimmerman, Attorney General, and the Reply filed by Petitioner Elmer R. Baumgardner, the Petitions are hereby dismissed as moot.

LARSEN, J., files a concurring opinion in which FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT and PAPADAKOS, JJ., join.

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