Com. v. Castro, C., Jr.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 13, 2020
Docket719 MDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Castro, C., Jr. (Com. v. Castro, C., Jr.) 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. Castro, C., Jr., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S73011-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : CARLOS RUBEN CASTRO, JR. : : Appellant : No. 719 MDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 11, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0000784-2017

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., LAZARUS, J., and MUSMANNO, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SHOGAN, J.: FILED MARCH 13, 2020

Appellant, Carlos Ruben Castro, Jr., appeals from the judgment of

sentence entered on April 11, 2019, in the Lycoming County Court of Common

Pleas. The judgment of sentence was imposed after a jury found Appellant

guilty of twenty-nine counts of various sexual offenses and sexually related

crimes committed against three minor females. After careful review, we

affirm.

In its Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion, the trial court provided a summary of

the procedural history in this matter:

By way of background, [Appellant] was charged with numerous sexual offenses against several female children. A jury trial was held September 11-13, 2018. [Appellant] was convicted of three counts of Indecent Assault of a Complainant Less Than 13 Years of Age, three counts of Corruption of Minors, two counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children, one count of Aggravated Indecent Assault of a Child, one count of Rape of a Child, one count of Solicitation of Rape of a Child, two counts of Criminal J-S73011-19

Attempt Rape of a Child, and sixteen counts of Sexual Abuse of Children.1

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3126(a)(7), 6301(a)(1)(ii), 4304(a)(1), 3125(b), 3121(c), 902(a), 901(a), and 6312(b)(1)[, respectively].

On December 27, 2018, the court sentenced [Appellant] to an aggregate term of 67 to 189 years’ incarceration in a state correctional institution, which consisted of three to seven years’ incarceration on Count 3, Indecent Assault of a Complainant Less Than 13 Years of Age; five to ten years’ incarceration on Count 6, Aggravated Indecent Assault of a Child; three to seven years’ incarceration on Count 7, Indecent Assault of a Complainant Less Than 13 Years of Age; twenty to 40 years’ incarceration on Count 8, Rape of a Child; two to five years’ incarceration on Count 11, Endangering the Welfare of Children; ten to 40 years’ incarceration on Count 12, Solicitation of Rape of a Child; seven to 20 years’ incarceration on Count 14, Sexual Abuse of Children; seven to 20 years’ incarceration on Count 19, Sexual Abuse of Children; and ten to 40 years’ incarceration on Count 22, Criminal Attempt Rape of a Child.

[Appellant] filed post sentence motions which consisted of a motion for reconsideration of sentence, a motion for a new trial, and a motion in arrest of judgment. The court denied the motion for a new trial and motion for arrest of judgment, but granted re- sentencing as Count 3 was improperly graded as a felony of the third degree, rather than a misdemeanor of the first degree. Otherwise, the court rejected [Appellant’s] claims that his sentence was unduly harsh and excessive.

On April [11], 2019, the court reduced the sentence on Count 3 to two and one-half to five years’ incarceration and ran Count 7 concurrent rather than consecutive to the other sentences, which resulted in an aggregate sentence of 63½ to 180 years.

On April 12, 2019, [Appellant] filed a post sentence motion in which he sought reconsideration of sentence. The court summarily denied the motion on April 16, 2019.

[Appellant] filed a notice of appeal on April 30, 2019.

-2- J-S73011-19

Pa.R.A.P.(a) Opinion, 8/9/19, at 1-2. Both the trial court and Appellant

complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

On appeal, Appellant presents the following issues for this Court’s

consideration:

I. Did the trial court err by not applying the interest of justice exception to an untimely motion to suppress?

II. Did the jury err when they determined there was sufficient evidence to establish the penetration element required to convict [Appellant] of Count 8, Rape of a Child?

III. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by sentencing the [Appellant] to 63½ to 180 years, essentially confining [Appellant] to prison for the rest of his life?

Appellant’s Brief at 4.

In his first issue, Appellant asserts that the trial court should have

accepted his untimely suppression motion in “the interest of justice.”

Appellant’s Brief at 10. We disagree.

As a general rule, a motion to suppress should be contained within a

criminal defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion, and the omnibus motion must

be filed within thirty days after arraignment. Pa.R.Crim.P. 578, 579, and 581.

“The rule is designed to provide one single procedure for the suppression of

evidence[.]” Pa.R.Crim.P. 581, cmt. A defendant may file a supplemental

suppression motion, but only when “the opportunity did not previously exist,

or the interests of justice otherwise require.” Pa.R.Crim.P. 581(B). “The

‘interests of justice’ exception provides a trial judge with discretion to excuse

a party’s tardy presentation of a suppression motion.” Commonwealth v.

-3- J-S73011-19

Johonoson, 844 A.2d 556, 560-561 (Pa. Super. 2004) (citation omitted).

“The factors to be considered should include the length and cause of the delay,

the merits of the suppression claim, and the court’s ability, considering the

complexity of the issues and the availability of the witnesses, to hold the

hearing promptly.” Commonwealth v. Brown, 378 A.2d 1262, 1266 (Pa.

Super. 1977). “We review the trial court’s decision on these matters for an

abuse of discretion.” Johonoson, 844 A.2d at 561 (citation omitted).

The record reveals that Appellant waived his arraignment on May 5,

2017. On July 3, 2017, the trial court entered a stipulated order allowing

Appellant an extension of time in which to file the omnibus motion, and

Appellant filed the motion within the time allotted by the extension. Omnibus

Motion, 7/21/17. Therein, Appellant alleged the search warrant was

overbroad and requested the trial court to suppress video and data evidence

retrieved from Appellant’s Samsung mobile telephone. Id. at ¶¶ 14-30; N.T.,

8/31/17, at 7. On August 31, 2017, a hearing was held, and the trial court

denied the omnibus motion on September 26, 2017. Appellant did not move

the trial court to reconsider its denial of the suppression motion.

We note that at all relevant times, the Lycoming County Public

Defender’s Office represented Appellant in this matter. Attorney Joshua

Bower of the Public Defender’s Office filed Appellant’s omnibus motion.

Following the denial of the omnibus motion, Attorney William Miele of the

Lycoming County Public Defender’s Office, entered his appearance. Five

-4- J-S73011-19

months after the trial court denied Appellant’s omnibus motion, Attorney Miele

filed Appellant’s second suppression motion, again asking the trial court to

suppress the evidence seized from the mobile phone. Motion to Suppress,

2/20/18, at ¶¶ 13-18. In this motion, Appellant modified his earlier argument

and claimed that the search of the mobile telephone was conducted without

his permission, and no exigency existed. Id.

On February 22, 2018, the Commonwealth filed a response to

Appellant’s suppression motion. Commonwealth’s Response to Appellant’s

Second Motion to Suppress, 2/22/18. The Commonwealth asserted that

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

Related

Commonwealth v. W.H.M.
932 A.2d 155 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Moury
992 A.2d 162 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Ahmad
961 A.2d 884 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Commonwealth v. Stambaugh
512 A.2d 1216 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Johonoson
844 A.2d 556 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Gonzalez-Dejusus
994 A.2d 595 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Sierra
752 A.2d 910 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Hoag
665 A.2d 1212 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Mouzon
812 A.2d 617 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Kenner
784 A.2d 808 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. MacIas
968 A.2d 773 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Estepp
17 A.3d 939 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Commonwealth v. Conte
198 A.3d 1169 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Hunzer
868 A.2d 498 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Commonwealth v. Hartle
894 A.2d 800 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Evans
901 A.2d 528 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Downey
39 A.3d 401 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Commonwealth v. Christine
78 A.3d 1 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Commonwealth v. Zirkle
107 A.3d 127 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Page
371 A.2d 890 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Castro, C., Jr., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-castro-c-jr-pasuperct-2020.