Commonwealth v. Pugh

OPINION BY

PANELLA, J.

The primary issue before us is the admissibility of expert testimony proffered by the defense in order to question the trustworthiness of a defendant’s confession. The trial court granted the Commonwealth’s motion in limine to preclude the defense from presenting such evidence. In light of recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court case law, we conclude that expert testimony regarding false confessions is impermissible as it provides no pedagogical purpose and interferes with the jury’s exclusive duty to assess the credibility of witnesses. We also find Pugh’s other issues merit…