When To Appeal Privilege Claims - State And Federal Differences

In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Harris, No. 8 EAP 20098 (Pa. 2011) (McCaffrey, J.), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed its prior rule that orders overruling claims of privilege are immediately appealable as of right under Pennsylvania law, rejecting a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion to the contrary.

Francis Harris was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the killing of a witness who was scheduled to testify against him in a trial on aggravated assault charges.  After affirmance of the sentence, Harris filed a petition under Pennsylvania's Post Conviction Relief Act.  He argued that his attorney in the criminal trial had ineffectively introduced the testimony of a psychologist hired to testify at the sentencing hearing about past psychological trauma suffered by Harris.