Ordway v. Commonwealth
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After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of intentional murder and sentenced to death. The deaths occurred as a result of a shooting during which Appellant claimed he was acting in self-defense. Defendant appealed, raising multiple issues in support of reversal of his convictions and sentences. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court committed reversible error in (1) admitting testimony from a policy detective that Appellant's behavior after the shooting was inconsistent with someone who had actually acted in self-defense, thereby implying that from his experienced observations Appellant had fabricated his self-defense claim; (2) admitting evidence of Appellant's post-arrest invocation of his right to remain silent; (3) failing to strike for cause a potential juror who was the sibling of the victim's advocate directly connected to the case; and (4) excluding evidence of the victims' statements immediately before the shooting. Remanded for a new trial.
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