Com. v. Bland, M.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 30, 2021
Docket3244 EDA 2014
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Bland, M. (Com. v. Bland, M.) 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. Bland, M., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S50030-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : MALIK BLAND : : Appellant : No. 3244 EDA 2014

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence February 18, 2014 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0000030-2009

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., SHOGAN, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY SHOGAN, J.: FILED MARCH 30, 2021

Appellant, Malik Bland, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered

on February 18, 2014,1 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

After review, we affirm.

The trial court summarized the facts of this case as follows:

On May 14, 2008, shortly before 6:00 p.m., Amelia Lincoln (“Lincoln”) was standing with her three year old son talking to Sokoni Meachum (“Meachum”) on the porch of his house on the corner of 66th Street and Elmwood Avenue. A girl named Shameeka, who was wearing her high school uniform, walked up 66th Street from 6548 Theodore Street to the porch where Lincoln and Meachum were talking. She told them to put their hands up, and they began to laugh. Moments later, [Appellant] walked up to the porch and pulled out a 0.38 caliber revolver. Meachum pushed Lincoln and her son out of the way, and [Appellant] immediately shot Meacham five times in the chest. [Appellant] ran from the ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 The reasons for the delay in our disposition of this appeal are discussed infra. J-S50030-20

scene, and Meachum was taken to University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Trial Court Opinion, 6/30/15, at 3.

In a criminal information filed on January 9, 2009, the Commonwealth

charged Appellant with murder, persons not to possess a firearm, firearms not

to be carried without a license, carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia, and

possessing an instrument of crime (“PIC”).2 Information, 1/9/09, at 1-2. The

trial court set forth the procedural history as follows:

On January 30, 2014, [Appellant] filed a Motion to Suppress a photo array which was heard and denied on February 6, 2014. On February 6, 2014, [Appellant] elected to exercise his right to a jury trial and pled not guilty to the above listed charges. On February 18, 2014, the jury found [Appellant] guilty of Murder of the First Degree and PIC,[3] after which this court sentenced [Appellant] to the mandatory term of [l]ife imprisonment without parole on the murder charge. He received no further penalty on the PIC charge. On February 24, 2014, [Appellant] filed post- sentence motions, which were denied on June 25, 2014.

On October 14, 2014, [Appellant] filed a Petition to Reinstate Appellate Rights Nunc Pro Nunc, which this court granted on October 31, 2014. On November 14, 2014, this court received a Notice of Appeal and on January 7, 2015, upon completion of the notes of testimony, [Appellant] was served an Order directing him to file a concise statement of the matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). …

____________________________________________

2 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2502, 6105(a)(1), 6106(a)(1), 6108, and 907(a), respectively.

3 The record reveals that the charges of persons not to possess a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license, and carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia, were nol prossed. Order, 2/18/14.

-2- J-S50030-20

Trial Court Opinion, 6/30/15, at 1-2. Both the trial court and Appellant

complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

On September 1, 2015, Appellant filed a pro se “MOTION FOR LEAVE TO

REOPEN AND TO EXTEND APPELLANT’S BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND TO

WITHDRAW COUNSEL OF RECORD FROM APPELLANT’S CASE,” in which

Appellant requested, inter alia, the appointment of new counsel or to be

permitted to represent himself on appeal. On September 22, 2015, our Court

remanded this matter to the trial court to hold a hearing pursuant to

Commonwealth v. Grazier, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998), to determine if

Appellant wanted to represent himself on appeal or proceed with court-

appointed counsel. On January 29, 2016, the trial court responded to this

Court’s September 22, 2015 order. Therein, the trial court explained that it

was unable to hold a Grazier hearing because Appellant was incarcerated in

a federal prison in West Virginia, and the trial court could not authorize a video

hearing. Letter, 1/29/16. In light of the trial court’s response, this Court

stayed Appellant’s appeal pending a Grazier hearing. Order, 5/13/16.

However, there was no activity in this matter for more than three years, and

the appeal remained inactive.

In 2019, our Court coordinated with the Honorable Leon W. Tucker, the

supervising judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Criminal

Trial Division, in an effort to schedule a video hearing for Appellant. Letter,

2/21/19. At a video hearing held on March 25, 2019, Appellant informed the

-3- J-S50030-20

trial court that he would prefer to appear in person. N.T., 3/25/19, at 7-9;

Letter, 4/11/19. Appellant’s hearing was ultimately held on March 9, 2020,

and after the hearing, Judge Tucker advised this Court that Appellant’s

attorney, Lee Mandell, Esquire, would remain Appellant’s attorney of record.

Letter, 3/11/20. Thereafter, this Court issued a briefing schedule and directed

that Appellant’s brief was due on or before May 4, 2020. Order, 3/24/20.

Appellant failed to file a timely brief, and on June 18, 2020, we filed an order

directing Attorney Mandell to file Appellant’s brief by July 17, 2020. Order,

6/18/20. Although it was late, Attorney Mandell filed Appellant’s brief on

July 23, 2020, and after this Court granted an extension, the Commonwealth

filed a responsive brief on October 9, 2020. We now deem this appeal ripe

for disposition.

On appeal, Appellant raises the following issues for this Court’s

consideration:

I. Is [Appellant] entitled to an Arrest of Judgment on the charge of Murder where the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict?

II. Is [Appellant] entitled to a new trial where, as here, the greater weight of the evidence does not support the verdict?

III. Is [Appellant] entitled to a new trial as the result of [c]ourt error when the [c]ourt permitted impermissible questioning to be done of a witness and where the [c]ourt denied a subsequent request for mistrial?

Appellant’s Brief at 3.

-4- J-S50030-20

In his first issue, Appellant contends that there was insufficient evidence

to convict him of first-degree murder. Appellant’s Brief at 9-11. Our standard

of review is as follows:

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine whether the evidence admitted at trial, and all reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, was sufficient to enable the fact finder to conclude that the Commonwealth established all of the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The Commonwealth may sustain its burden by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Further, the trier of fact is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence.

Commonwealth v. Woodard, 129 A.3d 480, 489-490 (Pa. 2015) (internal

citation and quotation marks omitted).

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Com. v. Bland, M., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-bland-m-pasuperct-2021.