For the Defense - Vol. 6 Issue 3 - 30

filed an interlocutory appeal and the Superior Court
reversed, finding that evidence related to the cause
of the decedent's death is relevant to determine
whether DiStefano (1) caused the victim serious bodily
injury that created a " substantial risk of death " and
(2) acted with recklessness in that his assault of the
victim was " performed under circumstances which
almost assure[d] that injury or death [would] ensue. "
It appears that SCOPA accepted this case, at least in
part, to use it as a vehicle to examine the abuse of
discretion standard of review.
Commonwealth v. Talley, 14 MAP 2021 (March 9,
2021)
(1) Is the Commonwealth required under
Art. I, [S]ection 14 of the Pennsylvania
Constitution to produce clear and
convincing evidence at a bail revocation
hearing in order to meet its burden of proof
that there is " no condition or combination
of conditions other than imprisonment
that will reasonably assure the safety of
any person and the community when the
proof is evident or presumption great " ?
(2) Is it a violation of the Best Evidence Rule to
permit the introduction of screenshots of
text messages, and supporting testimony
thereto, when those screenshots omit
portions of the messages, all hyperlinks,
and all metadata, and the original was in
the possession of the offering party but has
never been produced to the non-offering
party?
Before the Superior Court, Talley argued that the
Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proof when
it opted not to present witnesses or other evidence
demonstrating that no condition or combination of
conditions could ensure the safety of the community or
the complaining witness and, indeed, relied exclusively
on the factual averments contained in the affidavit of
probable cause. The Superior Court found that " the
affidavit of probable cause linked [Talley] to numerous
harassing text messages and violent threats issued
to [the complaining witness] and set for compelling
proof that [Talley] used a firearm to damage [her]
vehicle. " 9
Therefore, the affidavit of probable cause
was sufficient evidence upon which to deny Talley bail.
Concerning the second issue, Talley contended that
the Commonwealth's introduction of screenshots,
rather than the entire transcription of messages,
violated the best evidence rule insofar as they did
not meet the criteria for " original " or " duplicate "
writings, as the rule requires. Talley further argued
that the screenshots also omitted certain content
and features within the messages that could have
assisted the factfinder in determining the identity of
the sender of the messages, a question of fact at issue
at trial. After discussing the policy reasons underlying
the requirement of an " original " or " duplicate, "
the Superior Court concluded that Talley's claim fell
outside the scope of the best evidence rule because
his claims " surrounding the features omitted from the
screenshots implicate only the identity of the individual
who sent the messages, and not the accuracy with
which the screenshots depicted the contents of the
original communications[.] "
30 For The Defense l Vol. 6, Issue 3
For the Defense - Vol. 6 Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 6 Issue 3
