Hayes v. Commonwealth

Dissenting opinion by

Justice ROACH.

After noting that the evidence against Hayes was “overwhelming” and rejecting all of his claims of error save one relating to voir dire, the majority opinion, in a conclusory fashion, proclaims the voir dire error is not subject to harmless error. Because the majority opinion relies on inapplicable cases and refuses to consider harmless error, I dissent.

I. HAYES’S ALLEGATION OF ERROR

Let us begin with what actually occurred at trial. No prospective juror indicated that he or she would hold the fact that Hayes did not testify against him. Significantly, the…