Com. v. Bodanza, A.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided October 9, 2019·No. 1732 MDA 2018·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

v. :

:

ANTON BRANT BODANZA :

:

Appellee : No. 1732 MDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Entered October 2, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-06-CR-0001656-2018

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J.E., McLAUGHLIN, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E. MEMORANDUM BY GANTMAN, P.J.E.: FILED OCTOBER 09, 2019 Appellant, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, appeals from the order entered in the Berks County Court of Common Pleas, which granted the motion of Appellee, Anton Brant Bodanza, for a writ of habeas corpus and dismissed all charges against him. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. On March 29, 2018, the Commonwealth charged Appellee with criminal homicide, in connection with the death of Appellee’s mother (“Decedent”), who died on June 20, 2017. Special Agent Michael P. Collins of the Office of Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Section, Care-Dependent Neglect Team, drafted the affidavit of probable cause. The affidavit of probable cause detailed Agent Collins’ investigation and alleged, inter alia, that: (1) Appellee was the primary caretaker for Decedent between October 10, 2016 and June

15, 2017; (2) on June 15, 2017, police and emergency medical services (“EMS”) responded to Decedent’s residence after Decedent’s daughter contacted 911 and reported that Appellee had withheld Decedent’s prescription medication, Lasix, for two weeks; (3) Appellee told police he withheld the medication because it caused Decedent to urinate more frequently, and Appellee was tired of cleaning up the mess; (4) Dr. Debra Zimmerman was Decedent’s primary care physician and educated Appellee on the importance of Decedent’s medications on several occasions; (5) Transition-of-Care Nurse Jennifer Mott educated Appellee on the importance of administering Lasix to Decedent to prevent swelling and edema and to help Decedent’s heart pump efficiently; (6) Nurse-Case-Manager Nadine Herman reviewed the importance of Decedent’s medications with Appellee on multiple occasions, and Appellee admitted during multiple visits that he was not giving Decedent the Lasix because it made her urinate too frequently; (7) Appellee admitted to Agent Collins that Decedent’s doctor had discussed with Appellee the necessity of regularly administering Decedent’s medications and the purpose of the Lasix; (8) Registered Nurse Erica Smith treated Decedent at Reading Hospital on June 15, 2017; Appellee told Nurse Smith he did not want Decedent to have Lasix because Appellee was “holistic” and did not believe in the medications the hospital was using; (9) the Berks County Office of the Coroner reported that Appellee had withheld Lasix from Decedent, which resulted in her hospitalization, and listed the manner of death as homicide;

and (10) the autopsy report indicated the withholding of Lasix initiated the continuous and unbroken sequence of events and complications, which led to Decedent’s death on June 20, 2017. Based on the Commonwealth’s charge of homicide generally, the district magistrate initially denied bail.

On April 10, 2018, the parties appeared before the district magistrate for a preliminary hearing. In exchange for the Commonwealth’s agreement to amend the criminal charges to make Appellee eligible for bail, Appellee stipulated at his preliminary hearing to the accuracy of the averments set forth in the criminal complaint and the affidavit of probable cause.1 The magistrate decided the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause established a prima facie case against Appellee and bound over the charges for trial. Consistent with the parties’ agreement, the Commonwealth amended the criminal information on April 19, 2018, reducing the charges against Appellee to the lesser offenses of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. On April 23, 2018, Appellee filed a motion to set bail, which the court set at $150,000.00 on April 26, 2018.

On May 24, 2018, Appellee filed an omnibus pre-trial motion for, inter alia, a writ of habeas corpus. In the motion, Appellee maintained he had stipulated to the accuracy of the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause only for the preliminary hearing, but he had preserved his right to

1 The record confirms the parties’ agreement in this respect.

challenge the Commonwealth’s evidence by writ of habeas corpus. Appellee claimed the Commonwealth failed to establish a prima facie case. The trial court scheduled a hearing on Appellee’s motion for July 20, 2018.2 The parties appeared for a habeas corpus hearing on July 20, 2018. The Deputy Attorney General represented the Commonwealth, marked for admission the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause, and explained to the court that Appellee had stipulated at the preliminary hearing to the accuracy of the facts set forth in the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause. The Commonwealth contended the trial court’s scope of review during the habeas corpus proceeding was limited to the stipulated record of the preliminary hearing (the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause) in deciding if the evidence before the magistrate constituted a prima facie case.

Defense counsel countered that the customary practice in Berks County to avoid conducting a full preliminary hearing is either to: (1) waive the preliminary hearing (which also generally waives the defendant’s right to a habeas corpus hearing); or (2) proceed to a stipulated preliminary hearing based on the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause for purposes of the preliminary hearing only, while retaining the right to challenge the

2 Appellee’s omnibus pre-trial motion also sought discovery and suppression of evidence. Appellee subsequently abandoned the request for discovery, when the Commonwealth asserted it would produce any new discovery that arose. Appellee withdrew the suppression motion.

Commonwealth’s evidence at a later habeas corpus hearing. Defense counsel insisted Appellee had chosen option (2), argued that the record established at the preliminary hearing was nonbinding, and the Commonwealth must produce live, non-hearsay testimony on habeas corpus review. Defense counsel also claimed the Commonwealth’s evidence was insufficient because counsel was sure the Commonwealth’s witnesses would testify inconsistently with their statements set forth in the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Com. v. Bodanza, A., (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

Com. v. Bodanza, A. (Com. v. Bodanza, A.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Commonwealth v. Mitchell
902 A.2d 430 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Karetny
880 A.2d 505 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Mitchell v. Pennsylvania
127 S. Ct. 1126 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Morman
541 A.2d 356 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Marti
779 A.2d 1177 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. Pigg
571 A.2d 438 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Tyler v. King
496 A.2d 16 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Commonwealth v. Huggins
836 A.2d 862 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Mathis
463 A.2d 1167 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Dantzler
135 A.3d 1109 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)
Commonwealth v. Hilliard
172 A.3d 5 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Predmore
199 A.3d 925 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Jackson
849 A.2d 1254 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Reyes
611 A.2d 190 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)