Pickles v. City of Harrisburg

MORGAN, J.,

On June 24, 1982, the City Council of Harrisburg, after hearing on *212charges in connection with the shooting death of a suspected felon, Leon Marks, dismissed police officer Richard L. Pickles and we are here considering his appeal from that action.1

According to the cases, the de novo review provided for in these appeals by the Third Class City Code (53 P.S. §39408) does not mean what it seems to say; that is, that we hear the case “anew, afresh”, a complete retrial upon new evidence, nor even a trial upon the record before the lower tribunal. We may not substitute our discretion for…