Joseph B. Simon & Company v. Zoning Board Adjustment

The defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree by a jury's verdict which fixed the penalty
[ 402 Pa. Page 629]
at death. The court en banc granted the defendant's motion for a new trial on the ground that the aggregate of untoward events
happening at trial, including emotional outbursts by the bereaved husband of the homicide victim, the introduction in evidence
of bloody color slides and the fact that the jury was drawn from a panel which had previously heard the defendant plead guilty
before a three-judge court, "created such an inflammatory atmosphere that the jury's determination may well have been based
upon other than the substantive factual evidence introduced."