The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld a pretrial decision by Blair County President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle barring testimony she considered prejudicial against a Baltimore-area man charged with drug and gun offenses.

But in the same opinion issued Friday, the appeals court overruled the judge on her decision barring a Maryland docket sheet that would authenticate that the defendant, Emmanuel Taylor, 47, had a prior conviction in Maryland that prohibits him from possessing a firearm.

Upon making those rulings, the Superior Court panel that included Judges Victor P. Stabile, Megan King and James G. Colins, remanded the criminal charges against Taylor to Blair County for trial.

The case against Taylor began with a routine traffic stop by a Pennsylvania state trooper on his way to work.

On April 1, 2018, Trooper Rusty Hays was driving south on I-99 in an unmarked police cruiser when a vehicle driven by Darien Riddick of Baltimore, traveling between 70 and 80 mph, passed him.

Hays initiated a traffic stop, but upon approaching Riddick’s vehicle, the trooper smelled marijuana.

Based on a suspicion Riddick was driving under the influence and after noticing Taylor as a passenger in the back seat of the Riddick vehicle, the trooper conducted a search.

He found marijuana wrapped in a hat, and underneath the front seat of the vehicle, but within reach of both men, he found a 9 mm Ruger pistol.

Focusing on the firearm, Hays performed a records search and found Taylor had a criminal record of possession with intent to distribute, which made him ineligible to possess or be licensed to carry a firearm.

The trooper also determined that the firearm found in the car was stolen.

Both men were charged with drug offenses as well as receiving stolen property (the gun) and firearm not to be carried without a license.

Taylor was also charged with possession of a firearm prohibited based on his Maryland conviction.

Riddick had no prior felony conviction and therefore was not barred from possessing a gun.

According to the Superior Court in its recitation, the prosecution offered Riddick a deal “after he gave them a proffer that the firearm was not his.”

Doyle, on Sept. 28, 2020, ordered the firearms charges severed from the drug offenses, which meant Taylor’s case would be split into two cases.

As trial approached for Taylor, the defense produced a statement from Riddick indicating he was willing to take responsibility for the gun.

Riddick, however, finally decided, according to the defense, that he would assert his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment right not to testify if called to the stand.

The situation became even more confusing after a jury was impaneled on Jan. 31, 2022.

The prosecution indicated that it intended to call the alleged owner of the gun to testify that it had been stolen. The defense objected, pointing out that the gun offenses were allegedly to be severed from the case.

Public Defender Russell Montgomey charged that the prosecution was attempting to use a “backdoor approach” to pin the gun possession charge on Taylor, noting he was the only one charged with possession of a firearm prohibited.

Doyle ruled the origin of the firearm was not relevant to the drug charges facing Taylor and Riddick.

She also barred the introduction of a Maryland court record of Taylor’s prior conviction, indicating he was ineligible to possess a firearm.

The defense argued the record was not properly authenticated and amounted to little more than hearsay.

Doyle in her opinion stated that allowing evidence that the gun had been stolen (implying that Taylor was the man who possessed the gun since Riddick was not barred from purchasing a gun) would allow the jury to speculate that the driver of the car (Riddick) was a good person while Taylor was a bad person.

The appeals court panel upheld Doyle’s decision, noting “we accept the trial court’s reasoning that the probative value (that the gun was stolen) was outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to (Taylor) and the danger of misleading the jury about what issue was at trial.”

However, the appeals court overturned Doyle’s decision banning the Maryland certification of Taylor’s prior conviction, stating that it was stamped by the Clerk of Courts from Frederick County, Maryland.

The document under Pennsylvania law was “self-authenticating,” the appeals court stated.

State court records show both Riddick and Taylor are awaiting trial.

Riddick’s case was last continued on April 4. Taylor’s case was continued awaiting a decision by the Superior Court.