Com. v. Abdul-Hakim, D.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 12, 2021
Docket363 EDA 2020
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Abdul-Hakim, D. (Com. v. Abdul-Hakim, D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Abdul-Hakim, D., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S52018-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : DAWUD ABDUL-HAKIM : : Appellant : No. 363 EDA 2020

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered January 21, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0008191-2011

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., McCAFFERY, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY McCAFFERY, J.: FILED: APRIL 12, 2021

Dawud Abdul-Hakim (Appellant) appeals from the order entered in the

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, denying his first, timely Post

Conviction Relief Act1 (PCRA) petition. Appellant was convicted of second-

degree murder2 and related offenses following a joint jury trial with a co-

defendant. He avers the PCRA court erred in denying his claims that: (1) trial

counsel was ineffective for violating the dictates of Bruton v. United States,

391 U.S. 123 (1968); (2) direct appeal counsel was ineffective for not

challenging the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to sever on the basis

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.

2 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(b). J-S52018-20

of Bruton violations; and (3) trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to

particular testimony by a police officer. We affirm on the basis of the PCRA

court’s opinion.

On Appellant’s direct appeal, this Court summarized the underlying

facts:

On October 20, 2010, Appellant[ ] and an unidentified male were invited by co-defendant, Kevin Williams . . . to smoke weed in [Williams’] car. At approximately 11:20 PM, Williams was driving west on Jackson Street in . . . Philadelphia when Appellant suggested they [r]ob three (3) men they saw walking[:Jason Moncrief, Andrew Lillie, and Decedent, Anthony DeMarco Jr. Appellant knew Decedent “since he was 12 years old from playing basketball with [him] in the neighborhood.”] Appellant had a .40 caliber Glock pistol on his person. The unidentified male told Williams to stop the car, said he would be right back, and instructed Williams to stay there. Appellant and the unidentified male exited Williams’ car on to the sidewalk ahead of [the three victims] and walked slowly so [the victims] could catch up. Williams backed his car onto nearby Philip Street where he could see [all of the men]. Williams kept his car running in the middle of Philip Street and turned off his headlights.

As the two (2) groups converged, the unidentified male grabbed Moncrief and Appellant grabbed [Decedent,] holding [him] at gunpoint. The unidentified male and Appellant directed [the three victims] to give up their money, whereupon the unidentified male went into the pockets of Moncrief and retrieved $50. Appellant again told [Decedent] to “Give it up”. [Decedent] refused to comply, and was hit in the back of the neck with the gun by Appellant. [Decedent] then began to fight Appellant, punching him repeatedly and wrestling Appellant to the ground. During the fight Appellant dropped the gun. The unidentified male picked up the gun, told [Decedent] to get off of Appellant, then fired six (6) shots at [Decedent], hitting him four (4) times and hitting Appellant once (1) in the left hip. Lillie and Moncrief subsequently ran south on Second Street, Williams drove west on Jackson Street, while Appellant and the unidentified male ran west on Jackson Street.

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[Decedent] was transported to [the h]ospital, where he was pronounced dead. . . .

Commonwealth v. Abdul-Hakim, 1485 EDA 2014 (unpub. memo. at 1-3,

7-8) (Pa. Super. Nov. 6, 2015) (citation omitted), appeal denied, 652 EAL

2015 (Pa. Mar. 29, 2016).

Appellant and Williams were arrested. Both men gave incriminating

statements to the police, which, as we discuss infra, were introduced at trial.

Appellant was charged with homicide, conspiracy, robbery,3 and related

offenses. The Commonwealth filed a motion to try Appellant and Williams

together. Williams then filed a motion to sever their cases, which he and

Appellant jointly litigated. The trial court denied this severance motion.

Appellant’s and Williams’ cases proceeded to a first joint jury trial in

October of 2012. The jury was hung on several charges and thus a mistrial

was declared.

A second jury trial commenced on November 20, 2013. The two

surviving victims, Moncrief and Lillie, testified as Commonwealth witnesses.

The Commonwealth also presented the signed, written statement that

Williams gave to Philadelphia Homicide Detective Levi Morton, by way of

Detective Morton reading the statement aloud to the jury. N.T. Jury Trial,

11/22/13, at 73. In that statement, Williams admitted the following: on the

3 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 903(a), 3701(a)(1)(i).

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night of the incident, he was driving, saw two men, and asked them to “smoke

some weed with” him. Id. at 77-78. They agreed, and “[o]ne got in the front

seat, and the other boy got in the back seat.” Id. at 78. “[T]he boy in the

back seat” said he “was going to rob somebody tonight.” Id. at 79. “The guy

in the front seat spotted three white males coming down Second Street. The

boy in the back seat said, let’s get them right there.” Id. at 80. “[T]he guy

in the front . . . told [Williams] to stop and let him out right there[.]” Id.

“They [both] got out of the car[ and Williams] saw the guy that was in the

back seat . . . holding something in his right hand down by his right leg.” Id.

“The guy that was in the back seat raised his hand to one of the white males,

and then they started tussling[ and] fell to the ground.” Id. at 81. “The other

one had the other white guy[ and] went over to help this boy that was on the

ground tussling. He grabbed the gun from his boy [sic], and then [Williams]

saw him shoot the white boy.” Id. at 81-82. Throughout this statement,

neither Appellant nor the unidentified male were identified by name or as

Williams’ “co-defendant.” See id. at 78-83.

The Commonwealth likewise presented the signed, written statement

that Appellant gave to Philadelphia Homicide Detective John Harkins.

Detective Harkins read aloud the statement, in which Appellant told police the

following: Appellant “and two other guys were out just driving around[ and]

smoking in the car,” and Appellant had a Glock 40 gun. N.T., 11/22/13, at

164-65. They “saw three guys walking up Second Street[ and] figured we

-4- J-S52018-20

could rob them.” Id. at 164. “[T]he driver of the car pulled over, and me and

the other guy walked up the block[.]” Id. As the three victims walked past

Appellant, Appellant “grabbed” Decedent and put his gun to Decedent’s “chest

and said, just give it up.” Id. at 166. Decedent “started tussling with

[Appellant] trying to get the gun.” Id. The gun fell out of Appellant’s hand,

and “the guy that was with [Appellant] picked up the gun and started yelling,

get up, get off him[,] talking to [Decedent]. Then he just started shooting.”

Id. at 166-67. Throughout Appellant’s statement, Williams’ name was not

stated, and instead he was referred to as “the driver.” See id. at 164. The

name of the unidentified male was likewise not stated, and he was referred to

as “the other guy” and “the guy who was with me.” Id. at 164-68.

On cross-examination, Appellant’s trial counsel asked Detective Harkins

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Related

Bruton v. United States
391 U.S. 123 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Jones v. Barnes
463 U.S. 745 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Richardson v. Marsh
481 U.S. 200 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Gray v. Maryland
523 U.S. 185 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Alleyne v. United States
133 S. Ct. 2151 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Commonwealth v. Dunbar
470 A.2d 74 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Payne
760 A.2d 400 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Albrecht
511 A.2d 764 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Rainey
928 A.2d 215 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Finley
550 A.2d 213 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Gribble
863 A.2d 455 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Sanders
442 A.2d 817 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Commonwealth v. Payne
794 A.2d 902 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Riggins
386 A.2d 520 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Commonwealth v. Starks
399 A.2d 353 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Commonwealth v. McGlone
716 A.2d 1280 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Travers
768 A.2d 845 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. Pierce
527 A.2d 973 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Travaglia
661 A.2d 352 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)

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