Com. v. Brocenbrough, T.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 24, 2025
Docket513 EDA 2025
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Brocenbrough, T. (Com. v. Brocenbrough, T.) 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. Brocenbrough, T., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-S38019-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : TYREEK BROCENBROUGH : : Appellant : No. 513 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 16, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0005712-2021

BEFORE: McLAUGHLIN, J., KING, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY KING, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 24, 2025

Appellant, Tyreek Brocenbrough,1 appeals nunc pro tunc from the

judgment of sentence entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common

Pleas, following his bench trial convictions for possession of a firearm

prohibited, possessing instruments of crime (“PIC”), terroristic threats, and

resisting arrest.2 We affirm.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this matter are as follows.

In April 2021, Syeeda Henry-Dawson, her minor son, and Appellant (her

boyfriend) lived together at her residence in Philadelphia. On April 18, 2021,

Ms. Henry-Dawson returned home in the early morning hours and began to

change into her nightgown. At that time, Appellant began to argue with her. ____________________________________________

1 Some references in the record alternatively spell Appellant’s last name as

“Brockenbrough” or “Brokenbrough.”

2 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6105, 907, 2706, and 5104, respectively. J-S38019-25

Appellant came into the bedroom and hit Ms. Henry-Dawson about the face

and neck. Ms. Henry-Dawson fled down the steps and Appellant, who had

retrieved her firearm from its lockbox in her closet,3 followed her. Appellant

pointed the gun at Ms. Henry-Dawson and said, “Bitch, I’m going to kill you.”

(N.T. Trial, 8/26/22, at 15). Ms. Henry-Dawson fled to an outside balcony

deck and locked the door, yelling, “Call the cops, call the cops” before

remembering she had left her 10-year-old son inside. (See id. at 17). She

attempted to get back into the house but could not.

When officers, including Officer Michael Davis, arrived on scene, they

found Ms. Henry-Dawson crying and hysterical. Appellant opened the

basement door to the house and informed police that they needed to lock up

Ms. Henry-Dawson, and then he shut the door. Appellant exited the home

and when officers approached said, “If you come in here, I’m going to hit you,”

before running back up the steps. (See id. at 68). Ms. Henry-Dawson’s son

notified police of the firearm and officers moved to detain Appellant. In the

ensuing scuffle, Appellant attempted to bite one of the officers but caught his

jacket. Officers placed Appellant in handcuffs and custody, and the firearm

was recovered on the steps from the first floor.

On August 26, 2022, the matter proceeded to a bench trial, after which

the court convicted Appellant of the aforementioned charges. On December

____________________________________________

3 Ms. Henry-Dawson testified that the gun was registered in her name, and

that she kept it in a lockbox because her 10-year-old son lived in the house with her. She kept one key, and Appellant kept the other key on his key ring.

-2- J-S38019-25

16, 2022, the court sentenced Appellant to 5 to 10 years of incarceration for

possession of a firearm prohibited and imposed no further penalties on the

remaining charges.4

On December 20, 2022, Appellant timely filed a post-sentence motion

requesting reconsideration of his sentence. Appellant acknowledged that the

court had sentenced him at the bottom end of the mitigated guidelines, but

he indicated that he had been nervous and had not appropriately articulated

his remorse in his allocution. Appellant also requested the opportunity to

present additional testimony from some of his children’s mothers regarding

the ways in which his incarceration would affect their lives financially and

emotionally. On April 19, 2023, the court denied Appellant’s motion by

operation of law. Appellant did not file a direct appeal.

On March 20, 2024, Appellant timely filed a pro se petition pursuant to

the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”)5 averring that counsel had failed to file

a requested direct appeal on his behalf. On August 1, 2024, appointed counsel

filed an amended PCRA petition. On February 13, 2025, the court granted

Appellant’s petition and reinstated his direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc.

On February 18, 2025, Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal nunc pro

tunc. On February 19, 2025, the court ordered Appellant to file a Pa.R.A.P. ____________________________________________

4 At sentencing, the parties agreed that the standard range sentence for Appellant’s offense, factoring in his prior record score and the offense gravity store, was 72 to 90 months of incarceration, plus or minus twelve. (See N.T. Sentencing, 12/16/22, at 5).

5 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546.

-3- J-S38019-25

1925(b) statement of errors complained of on appeal. On February 27, 2025,

Appellant timely complied.

On appeal, Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

1. Whether the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to sustain a guilty verdict for Possession of a Firearm Prohibited?

2. Whether the [c]ourt was in error in denying the Motion to Reconsider Sentence?

(Appellant’s Brief at 8).

In Appellant’s first issue, he argues that the Commonwealth did not

prove his possession of the firearm. According to Appellant, the firearm was

registered in the name of Ms. Henry-Dawson, and there was no evidence that

Appellant had actual possession of the firearm. Although Appellant admits

that testimony established his ownership of a second key to the lockbox, he

contends that the second key was never found. Further, Appellant asserts

that there was no other direct evidence of his possession, such as his DNA or

fingerprints on the firearm. Appellant concludes that the evidence was

insufficient to sustain his conviction for persons not to possess firearms on

this basis, and this Court must grant relief. We disagree.

In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, our standard

of review is as follows:

As a general matter, our standard of review of sufficiency claims requires that we evaluate the record in the light most favorable to the verdict winner giving the prosecution the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the evidence. Evidence will be deemed sufficient to support the

-4- J-S38019-25

verdict when it establishes each material element of the crime charged and the commission thereof by the accused, beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth need not establish guilt to a mathematical certainty. Any doubt about the defendant’s guilt is to be resolved by the fact finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that, as a matter of law, no probability of fact can be drawn from the combined circumstances.

The Commonwealth may sustain its burden by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Accordingly, the fact that the evidence establishing a defendant’s participation in a crime is circumstantial does not preclude a conviction where the evidence coupled with the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom overcomes the presumption of innocence.

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