Com. v. Burgos, A.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 11, 2024
Docket546 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Burgos, A. (Com. v. Burgos, A.) 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. Burgos, A., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S09029-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : ADDIEL BURGOS : : Appellant : No. 546 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered January 31, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0004662-2019

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., NICHOLS, J., and BECK, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED JUNE 11, 2024

Appellant Addiel Burgos appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed

following the revocation of his probation. On appeal, Appellant challenges the

discretionary aspects of his sentence. We affirm.

The trial court summarized the relevant facts and procedural history of

this matter as follows:

The underlying criminal case that had formed the genesis of this court’s probationary supervision had been derived from events of May 29, 2019[, and] involved ongoing domestic violence between Appellant and Cynthia Espada-Cintron, his former girlfriend and mother of his minor child. The reported violations that resulted in the Appellant’s current period of confinement directly result from the Appellant’s incessant violent behavior towards this same victim that had also endangered at least two children in flagrant disregard of this court orders and judgments of sentence and human decency.

On or about May 29, 2019, Cynthia Espada-Cintron, hereinafter referred to as “Complainant,” was driving her vehicle with her and Appellant’s young child, when Appellant drove up next to her in his Mercedes Benz vehicle while she had been stopped at a red J-S09029-24

light. Appellant rolled down his window, brandished a firearm at her, and directed Complainant to “Stop right there, bitch.” (N.T. 2/23/2021, p. 20). Complainant immediately drove away, filed a criminal complaint, and requested a Protection from Abuse [(PFA)] order against Appellant. Id.

On February 23, 2021, Appellant, represented by Robert M. Gamburg, Esquire, tendered a negotiated guilty plea to Violation [of the] Uniform Firearms Act—possession of a firearm by prohibited person,[1] graded as a felony of the first degree, and simple assault,[2] graded as a misdemeanor of the first degree. Other charges were downgraded or deleted as part of the plea deal for a sentence that had significantly deviated downward from the recommended sentencing guidelines with the Commonwealth’s attorney.

Following argument and colloquy, this court accepted the tendered negotiations and imposed an order and judgment of sentence to the agreed upon term of eleven and a half (11.5) months to twenty-three (23) months of incarceration followed by five (5) years of probation for the first-degree felony offense of possession of a firearm prohibited, and two (2) years of consecutively running period of probation for the second-degree misdemeanor charge of simple assault. [Appellant was ordered] to be supervised by the Domestic Violence Unit of the Philadelphia Adult Probation and Parole Department with identified strict conditions including participation in Batterer’s Therapy, and credit for calculated custodial time served was provided. The Commonwealth . . . formally withdrew the remaining charges which included additional felony graded offenses.

Trial Ct. Op., 7/28/23, at 1-3 (some formatting altered).

____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(a)(1).

2 18 Pa.C.S. § 2701(a).

-2- J-S09029-24

The trial court informed Appellant of the conditions of his probation

which included that he was to have no contact with Complainant. 3 See N.T.,

2/23/21, at 26. The trial court also ordered Appellant to attend drug and

alcohol treatment, anger management counseling, undergo random drug and

alcohol screens, and submit to random home and vehicle checks for drugs and

weapons. Appellant was ordered to have no contact with illegal narcotics,

alcohol, and weapons. The trial court further ordered that Appellant was

prohibited from being in a vehicle or residing in a house where illegal drugs or

weapons were located. Additionally, the trial court prohibited Appellant from

posting on social media any posts that featured narcotics, weapons, or

proceeds from narcotics or weapons. Id. at 31-32. Finally, the trial court

ordered Appellant to obtain legitimate employment. Id. at 32.

Appellant began serving the probation portion of his sentence on May

24, 2021. Thereafter, the trial court explained:

[P]er the negotiated terms within the order and judgment of sentence, Appellant was assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit of the City of Philadelphia Adult Probation and Parole Department and was instructed to report weekly, with an initial meeting scheduled for June 2, 2021 and to begin its Batterer’s Therapeutic conditional program.

The Domestic Violence Treatment Unit’s rehabilitation process requires that defendants vocalize their acceptance of responsibility for their conduct. . . . Appellant’s initially assigned ____________________________________________

3 The trial court also prohibited Appellant from contacting his biological children until protective supervised contact could be secured through family court, and the trial court stated that any contact concerning an exchange of custody must occur through a third-party and occur at a police station. See N.T., 2/23/21, at 27-30.

-3- J-S09029-24

supervising Probation Officer utilized the initial meeting to discuss Appellant’s charges. However, at this meeting, Appellant adamantly denied committing any wrongdoing that had been recited as forming the underlying charges. [Appellant] boldly claimed that he had entered the guilty plea simply to get out of jail. In response, Appellant’s Probation Officer reported Appellant’s violation of his probationary conditions and requested that this court hold an evidentiary violation hearing. This court scheduled the requested hearing for July 15, 2021.

At the July 15, 2021, hearing, Appellant’s Probation Officer relayed the above facts, but indicated that Appellant had been otherwise in compliance. Following colloquy, this court refrained from revoking Appellant’s probation at that time. Instead, this court scheduled a ninety (90) day compliance status hearing for October 14, 2021, and reiterated Appellant’s required compliance with all the terms of his probation. At the October 14, 2021 status hearing, Appellant’s Probation Officer reported that Appellant had complied with the conditions, and this court scheduled an additional status of compliance hearing for December 17, 2021.

In the interim however, on October 15, 2021, [Complainant] contacted Appellant’s Probation Officer and reported that Appellant had punched her in the face and injured her to the extent that she had to seek emergency hospital treatment of her wounds. She informed the officer that on October 13, 2021, Appellant had driven to her house and that evening, she and Appellant had visited “Club Makumba” in Philadelphia, on Castor Avenue. While at the club, Complainant received and answered a cellular telephone call from her current boyfriend. Appellant reacted irately, and he told Complainant that she was not “respecting him” by answering the call.

Appellant then began punching Complainant in the face and ribs causing a black eye, bruising[,] and a broken lip. Appellant drove Complainant to the hospital emergency room and then dropped her off at her mother’s house after her hospital discharge. The next day, a third party sent Complainant a Facebook Live video stream, which had featured Appellant and another male brandishing guns as they were parked in a vehicle facing the Complainant’s [current] boyfriend’s home.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Burgos, A., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-burgos-a-pasuperct-2024.