[J-9-2013] [OAJC: Baer, J.]
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
MIDDLE DISTRICT
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : No. 58 MAP 2012
:
Appellee : Appeal from the Order of the Superior
: Court entered January 20, 2012 at No.
: 2464 EDA 2009, vacating and remanding
v. : the Judgment of Sentence of the
: Delaware County Court of Common Pleas,
: Criminal Division, entered July 14, 2009 at
SHATAAN ADAMS, : No. 23 CR-0002312-2008
:
Appellant : ARGUED: September 10, 2013
CONCURRING OPINION
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE CASTILLE DECIDED: November 20, 2014
I concur in the result reached by the Court on the basis of my Dissenting Opinion
in the companion case, Commonwealth v. Molina, __ A.3d __ (Pa. 2014). Because this
case involves a pre-arrest scenario, in my view, the reference to appellant’s pre-arrest
silence during the course of the police investigation did not impinge upon his
constitutional rights, irrespective of whether the prosecution later exploited the
reference. In the alternative, I agree with Mr. Justice Baer’s explanation of why the
reference at issue did not implicate the right to silence, even if such a right could be said
to obtain in the pre-arrest scenario.