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Appeals court considers whether clerk's reference to officer swearing complaint created substantial risk of miscarriage
Summary
In Commonwealth v. Pah (24P.607) the court reviewed an argument that a clerk's reading that a complaint was sworn by a sergeant may have improperly injected police credibility into a trial that otherwise lacked police testimony; the court heard competing views about prejudice standards.
Appellate justices heard argument in Commonwealth v. Pah (24P.607) over whether a clerk magistrate's statement to the jury that a complaint had been sworn by a sergeant improperly introduced extraneous information that could have affected verdicts in a trial without police testimony.
Defense counsel Alex Conley argued that the clerk's reference that "Sergeant Boyle swore this complaint" injected the prestige of police into the…
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