M.D. Appeal Dkt.
6 - 2020
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
MIDDLE DISTRICT
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : No. 288 MAL 2019
:
Respondent :
: Petition for Allowance of Appeal
: from the Order of the Superior Court
v. :
:
:
JOSEPH BERNARD FITZPATRICK, III, :
:
Petitioner :
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 3rd day of February, 2020, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is
GRANTED. The issues, the first restated for clarity and the second as stated by
Petitioner, are:
(1) Whether a note written by a victim of a homicide at some unknown
time before the author’s death saying “if something happens to me -- Joe”
is admissible under the state of mind exception to the ban on hearsay as
embodied in Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 803(3)?
(2) Where inculpatory hearsay is improperly admitted against an
accused, may a reviewing court dismiss the claim by averring the evidence
was not offered for its truth if the jury was not so instructed and the
statement was instead argued for its truth and is core to the prosecution
case?