Pennsylvania v. Adams (opinion announcing the judgment of the court)
Annotate this CaseIn the Highland Garden neighborhood of the City of Chester, during the evening O'Neil Blackwood suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his head during a burglary of his home by three assailants who intended to steal cash and drugs from Victim. The assailants also assaulted his wife, while their young children were upstairs in the home. Mrs. Blackwood identified defendant Shaatan Adams as one of the assailants, although his face was covered by a clear or flesh-toned mask. Moreover, at trial, one of Defendant’s co-conspirators testified against him in exchange for a reduction of charges. A neighbor also testified to overhearing Defendant and the other assailants preparing for the crime. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted review to consider whether the right against self-incrimination, as protected by the United States and Pennsylvania constitutions, was implicated when a Commonwealth witness, such as an investigating detective, testified without adverse implication that the defendant refused to answer questions prior to arrest. As observed in the majority opinion in "Commonwealth v. Molina,"( __ A.3d __ (J-55-2013) (Pa. 2014) addressing the question of whether an arguably exploited reference to a defendant’s pre-arrest silence violated the defendant’s right against self-incrimination under the Pennsylvania Constitution), the Supreme Court affirmed the superior court's conclusion that defendant’s constitutional rights, in this case, were not violated by the detective’s testimony in this case.
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