Com. v. Cammann, S.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 19, 2020
Docket2220 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Cammann, S. (Com. v. Cammann, S.) 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. Cammann, S., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S35029-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

STEPHEN CAMMANN

Appellant No. 2220 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered July 2, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No: CP-51-CR-0007271-2018

BEFORE: BOWES, J., STABILE, J., and COLINS, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: Filed: November 19, 2020

Appellant, Stephen Cammann, appeals from the July 2, 2019 judgment

of sentence imposing 11½ to 23 months of house arrest for recklessly

endangering another person1 (“REAP”). We affirm.

The trial court, sitting as factfinder, recited the pertinent facts in its

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion:

At trial, the Commonwealth first presented the testimony of complainant, Kenyatta Brown. Mr. Brown testified that, on June 21, 2018 between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m., he was at his grandmother’s house at 21st and Carpenter Streets in Philadelphia, engaged in an argument with his girlfriend, Tanaiyah Dennis. Mr. Brown and Ms. Dennis were having an argument over the fact that he had left her inside his grandmother’s house, while Mr. Brown was out and about with his friends. As Mr. Brown ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2705. J-S35029-20

described it: ‘When I came back to the house, she tried to leave. And I didn’t want her to leave. So we got in an argument.’ Ms. Dennis left the house, and Mr. Brown followed her outside, where they argued for 10 minutes. Ms. Dennis then started walking southbound on 21st Street toward Kimball, and Mr. Brown pursued her; the couple continued to argue, stopping in front of 2101 Kimball Street, where they encountered Appellant and his girlfriend, Dr. Laura Nalbandian, who were installing a wooden gate on the side of Dr. Nalbadian’s residence.

Dr. Nalbandian asked Ms. Dennis if ‘everything [was] allright?’ Mr. Brown responded, ‘This is my girlfriend. Mind your business.’ Mr. Brown testified that Appellant, who was holding a hammer, then asked Ms. Dennis if she was okay and grabbed her wrist. Mr. Brown grabbed hold of Ms. Dennis’ other wrist and started walking back toward his grandmother’s house, at which time he was struck in the side of the head and fell to the ground. Mr. Brown testified that the next thing he knew, he woke up in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (“TJUH”) with a skull fracture. He spent several days recovering in the hospital, and at the time of trial, still had a scar on his head.

The Commonwealth also introduced stipulated evidence that, if called to the stand, the records custodian or TJUH would testify that Mr. Brown was treated at TJUH for a left parietal depressed skull fracture as a result of being hit in the head with a hammer. He was admitted to the hospital on June 21 and discharged on June 24, 2018.

Trial Court Opinion, 12/17/19, at 2-3.

Appellant and Dr. Nalbandian offered a different account of the

altercation, wherein Mr. Brown pushed Appellant into a wall and reached for a

shiny object in his pocket. Id. at 3. Appellant therefore claimed he acted in

self-defense. At the conclusion of trial, the trial court found Appellant not

-2- J-S35029-20

guilty of aggravated assault2 and possessing an instrument of crime,3 but

guilty of REAP. The court imposed sentence as set forth above, and this timely

appeal followed.

Appellant raises a single assertion of error:

Where the lower court acquitted Appellant of aggravated assault, simple assault, and possessing an instrument of crime, specifically finding that the Commonwealth failed to disprove his justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt, was the evidence insufficient to support the guilty verdict for recklessly endangering another person?

Appellant’s Brief at 5.

“The use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the

actor believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of

protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person on

the present occasion.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(a). A person may not use deadly

force unless he believes it is necessary to protect himself against “death,

serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or

threat[.]” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2).

Where an accused raises the defense of self-defense under Section 505 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, the burden is on the Commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s act was not justifiable self-defense. The Commonwealth sustains this burden if it establishes at least one of the following: 1) the accused did not reasonably believe that he was in danger of death or serious bodily injury; or 2) the accused provoked or continued the use of force; or 3) the accused had a duty to retreat and the retreat was possible with complete ____________________________________________

2 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702.

3 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 907.

-3- J-S35029-20

safety. It remains the province of the jury to determine whether the accused's belief was reasonable, whether he was free of provocation, and whether he had no duty to retreat.

Commonwealth v. McClendon, 874 A.2d 1223, 1229–30 (Pa. Super. 2005)

(internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Section 505(b)(2)(ii)

imposes a duty to retreat rather than resorting to deadly force, so long as the

actor knows he can do so with complete safety, though the actor is not

required to retreat from his dwelling.

Appellant relies on Commonwealth v. Fowlin, 710 A.2d 1130 (Pa.

1998), in which this Court wrote that “the defender may not be simultaneously

found to have justifiably acted in self-defense and be criminally liable for

crimes involving recklessness or malice.” Id. at 1132. Similarly, in

Commonwealth v. Hilbert, 382 A.2d 724 (Pa. 1978), our Supreme Court

wrote that a claim of self-defense, if believed, negates “any element of […]

recklessness of consequences.” Id. at 731. Based on Fowlin and Hilbert,

Appellant claims that the trial court could not convict him of REAP after

accepting his justification defense as to the other crimes.

We disagree, because Appellant’s argument rests on a

mischaracterization of the record. Nowhere did the trial court specifically find

that the Commonwealth failed to disprove Appellant’s justification defense.

On the contrary, the trial transcript reflects the following:

Clearly, this was a very difficult, very difficult, situation and difficult decision. I found it certainly disingenuous when it seems so impossible for you or your girlfriend to admit you hit him in the head with a hammer and somehow you try

-4- J-S35029-20

and make it like you punched him. That was, honestly, so disingenuous. And for what type of smart reason you thought that was the appropriate response, you could not be more mistaken.

This is a court of law. This is not a place where you come and manipulate words to your advantage. This is where you come and you tell the truth. [The victim’s mother] is entirely right. This was a situation that, once it escalated, you needed to walk away, get on your cell phone, call 911. To hit a man in the head with a hammer is to use deadly force.

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Commonwealth v. Fowlin
710 A.2d 1130 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Jones
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Com. v. Cammann, S., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-cammann-s-pasuperct-2020.