Com. v. Calhoun, T.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 5, 2015·No. 1205 MDA 2014·Unpublished

Opinion

J-S28019-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

TODD V. CALHOUN,

Appellant No. 1205 MDA 2014

Appeal from the PCRA Order entered June 20, 2014, in the Court of Common Pleas of York County, Criminal Division, at No(s): CP-67-CR-0006309-2009

BEFORE: BOWES, ALLEN, and LAZARUS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY ALLEN, J.: FILED JUNE 05, 2015

Todd V. Calhoun (“Appellant”) appeals from the order denying his

petition for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief

Act (“PCRA”). 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-46. In addition, PCRA counsel has filed

a petition to withdraw. We affirm.

We previously detailed the pertinent facts and procedural history as

follows:

On July 26, 2009, Officer Lisa Daniels of the York City Police Department responded to a radio report of a shooting in the area of Smyser Street in York County. On arriving at the scene, Officer Daniels observed the victim, Shawn Bailey, lying face down in the street, having sustained three gunshot wounds. Witnesses to the shooting reported to police that they saw three or four men in a black Jeep and red Saturn shoot at the victim, and identified Appellant as being among the shooters. Police officers subsequently arrested and charged Appellant with [aggravated assault and related] crimes. The Commonwealth requested numerous continuances of J-S28019-15

trial which the trial court granted, and on July 30, 2010, Appellant filed a motion pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 600 seeking dismissal of the charges against him for failure of the Commonwealth to bring him to trial within 365 days. The trial court denied Appellant’s Rule 600 motion on August 5, 2010. A jury trial commenced on August 9, 2010, and on August 11, 2010, the jury returned its guilty verdict.

***

At trial, Diamond Bailey, the victim’s sister, testified that at the time of the shooting, she was standing on Smyser Street with the victim and saw four men, one of whom was Appellant, on the street together near a red two-door sedan and a black jeep. She testified that she heard Appellant say “this is what we do”, and immediately thereafter the victim was shot. Ms. Bailey testified that she saw two of the men who were standing with Appellant fire guns at the victim. While Ms. Bailey stated that she did not actually see Appellant fire a gun at the victim, she stated that she witnessed the shots being fired from the group of men whom Appellant was with. Ms. Bailey testified that after the shooting stopped, one of the men came back and “picked up [the victim’s] hat, I guess like a souvenir to show that they shot him, and took off with his hat.”

Rachel Garner, a witness to the shooting, testified that she was in her apartment when she heard Appellant and the victim arguing. She then looked out of her window and saw Appellant and the victim standing right in front of each other, having a disagreement. She stated that immediately following the argument, she heard gunfire and saw the victim being shot at, though she did not know precisely who fired the shots. She stated that after the shooting began, she saw the victim fire a weapon at Appellant.

Lachara Wintermeyers also testified at trial. Ms. Wintermyers explained that Appellant is the father of her son, and that prior to the shooting, she had been in a relationship with the victim. She further testified that on at least one occasion prior to the shooting, Appellant had expressed disapproval of her relationship with the victim,

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and asked Ms. Wintermyers if she was going to make him “fuck this nigga up” and/or “pop this nigga”, referring to the victim. Ms. Wintermyers testified that on the day of the shooting, Appellant had called the victim and told him to “leave Lachara alone.”

The victim testified at trial that on the date of the incident, he was walking towards Smyser Street when he received a telephone call from Appellant in which Appellant informed the victim that he was waiting for him on Smyser Street. On arrival at the scene, the victim observed Appellant standing in the middle of the street. Two other unidentified men then drove up and stepped into the street. Appellant made eye contact with the two other men, who split up on either side of the street and began walking towards the victim. Appellant and the victim began to argue, after which Appellant said, “this is what we do” and immediately thereafter, the victim heard gunshots being fired at him. The victim testified that he saw Appellant’s companions shoot at him, but did not know whether or not Appellant fired a weapon at him. The victim further testified that prior to the shooting, he received threats from Appellant warning him to stay away from Ms. Wintermyers.

Detective George Ripley of the York City Police testified that he interviewed Appellant on August 11, 2009. Detective Ripley testified that during the interview, Appellant reported that on the date of the incident he telephoned the victim and told him to “leave Lachara alone.” Later that afternoon, Appellant again called the victim, and then, along with a companion named “C- Murder”, drove to Symser Street, in a red Saturn, to meet the victim. Appellant stated to [Detective] Ripley that prior to arriving on Smyser Street, he made a telephone call to an individual named Brad [Markle], informed Mr. [Markle] that he was going to meet the victim on Smyser Street, and asked Mr. [Markle] to “get his back.” Appellant stated that on the way to Smyser Street he “took off his earrings and his hat, in preparation to fight” with the victim, but that upon arriving at Smyser Street, the victim appeared with a weapon and shot at Appellant. Appellant stated that during the time the shooting occurred, he did not know that Mr. [Markle] was firing a weapon. Appellant

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additionally denied having a gun or shooting a gun on the date of the incident.

Commonwealth v. Calhoun, 38 A.3d 92 (Pa. Super. 2011), unpublished

memorandum at 1-2; 8-11 (footnote and citations omitted).

Following a two-day trial, on August 11, 2010, a jury convicted

Appellant on all charges. Thereafter, Appellant filed post-trial motions that

the trial court denied on November 24, 2010. That same day, the trial court

sentenced Appellant to an aggregate term of 5½ to 11 years of

imprisonment. Appellant filed a timely appeal to this Court. On November

4, 2011, we rejected Appellant’s substantive claims and affirmed his

judgment of sentence. Calhoun, supra. On September 17, 2012, our

Supreme Court denied Appellant’s petition for allowance of appeal.

Commonwealth v. Calhoun, 53 A.3d 756 (Pa. 2012).

On September 9, 2013, Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition, and the

PCRA court appointed counsel to represent him. PCRA counsel filed an

amended PCRA petition on November 6, 2013, in which he claimed that trial

counsel was ineffective for failing to call Brad Markle as a defense witness.

The Commonwealth filed its response on April 16, 2014. On June 20, 2014,

the PCRA court held an evidentiary hearing at which Mr. Markle, Appellant,

and trial counsel testified. At the conclusion of the PCRA hearing, the PCRA

court entered an order denying Appellant’s amended petition. This timely

appeal followed. Both Appellant and the PCRA court have complied with

Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

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In lieu of an advocate’s brief, Appellant’s counsel has filed a purported

Anders1 brief and a petition to withdraw. Compliance with Anders applies

to counsel who seeks to withdraw from representation on direct appeal.

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Com. v. Calhoun, T., (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

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