Com. v. Crabb, B.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 27, 2022
Docket829 MDA 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Crabb, B. (Com. v. Crabb, B.) 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. Crabb, B., (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

J-S01043-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : BRYAN ALLEN CRABB : Appellant : : No. 829 MDA 2021

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 9, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-22-CR-0005172-2008

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

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: JULY 27, 2022

Appellant Bryan Allen Crabb appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed following the revocation of his probation. Appellant contends that

the trial court erred in revoking his probation because it did not specify the

conditions of probation at the time of his initial sentencing, and he claims that

the trial court abused its discretion when it resentenced Appellant after

revoking probation. We affirm.

The trial court summarized the relevant facts and procedural history in

this matter as follows:

On September 14, 2009, [Appellant] entered guilty pleas, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, to the offenses of sexual assault,[FN1] unlawful contact with a minor,[FN2] and corruption of minors.[FN3] The terms of the negotiated plea agreement were for [Appellant] to receive a sentence of three and one-half (3 ½) to ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S01043-22

seven (7) years in a state correctional institution followed by ten (10) years of consecutive probation.[1] Furthermore, it was agreed that [Appellant] accept whatever determination was made by the Sexual Offender Assessment Board (SOAB) as to whether he met the criteria of a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP). On December 17, 2009, [Appellant] was sentenced in accordance with the plea agreement and adjudged to be an SVP. [FN1] 18 Pa.C.S. § 3124.1. [FN2] 18 Pa.C.S. § 6318. [FN3] 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301.

After imposing sentence and awarding credit for time served, the [c]ourt inquired of both parties whether the sentence was in accord with the negotiated plea agreement. [N.T., 12/17/09, at 7]. The Commonwealth responded as follows:

MS. GETTLE: Yes. I would ask for no contact with the victim as well as the sexual offender conditions that are standard.

THE COURT: So ordered.

[Id. at 7-8].

No discussion was held on the record detailing the “sexual offender conditions that are standard” nor any other conditions of probation other than a prohibition on contact with the victim.

On March 18, 2021, a revocation hearing was held on the Commonwealth’s allegations that [Appellant] was in violation of the terms of his probation.[FN4] The following testimony was offered by the Probation Officer in support of the Commonwealth’s allegations:

____________________________________________

1 The record reflects that the trial court sentenced Appellant to a term of three and one-half to seven years of incarceration for the crime of sexual assault. N.T., 12/17/09, at 7. The trial court also sentenced Appellant to a term of ten years of probation for unlawful contact with a minor, and to a term of five years of probation for corruption of minors. Id. The sentences of probation were ordered to be served consecutively to the sentence of incarceration, but concurrently with each other. Id. This resulted in an aggregate sentence of three and one-half to seven years of incarceration followed by ten years of probation.

-2- J-S01043-22

[Appellant] has violated his supervision by possession of weapons, which included a 9 mm handgun, a crossbow, and a hunting rifle.

[Appellant] has also had pornographic materials in his home and admitted to using pornography on a regular basis. He reported to [the investigating agent] that he was doing so on the family computer instead of his cell phone because he thought that the state agent would be less likely to check the family computer for this.

He had also had a dildo and women’s clothing hidden in the basement because he did not believe [the investigating agent] would go and search the basement for that.

And it should be noted that these were all behaviors that [Appellant] engaged in around the time of his original offense, so we’re very concerned at the pattern here. And [Appellant] has also admitted to treatment that he is in a similar cycle of abuse that led to his offense.

He has a history of sexual assault with minor victims, which includes this current revocation case. Per the report that [the investigating agent] provided, again, the fact that he is viewing pornography or was viewing pornography daily and feeling the sexual materials, clothing, being aware of weapons in the home, all of this is just showing that he has no regard for the rules of the Court.

We are very concerned that his behaviors might lead to further criminal activity, if it hasn’t already. He presents a major risk, in our opinion, to the community, and we would ask for an incarceration in state prison to prevent further victims.

[N.T., 3/18/21, at 2-4]. [FN4]The [sentence of incarceration] imposed [for] sexual assault, had already expired, and the only remaining counts subject to violation were the probationary sentences imposed [for unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors]. [Id. at 4].

-3- J-S01043-22

[Appellant’s] counsel’s only comments were to suggest that the weapons may have belonged to other individuals residing in the home. [Id. at 4-5]. The Probation Officer responded:

Your Honor, I do understand that; however, the rules make it very clear that they cannot be in the residence of which the [Appellant] resides, and he was aware that they were there. So whether they were actually his weapons or not, his knowledge of them being in the residence alone would be a violation.

[Id. at 5].

Based on the above testimony, we found [Appellant] in violation of his probation, ordered the preparation of a pre-sentence investigation report (PSI) and scheduled sentencing for June 9, 2021. [Id.]. At the resentencing hearing on June 9, 2021, the Commonwealth declined the opportunity to offer additional testimony. [N.T., 6/9/21,2 at 4]. Nonetheless, the Commonwealth did present a very persuasive argument detailing the nature and circumstances of [Appellant’s] underlying convictions and the nexus between some of the alleged probation violations and those previous criminal actions. Accordingly, we sentenced [Appellant] to serve four and one-half (4½) to ten (10) years in a state correctional institution [for unlawful contact with a minor,] followed by five (5) years of consecutive probation [for corruption of minors]. [Id. at 10-11].

Trial Ct. Op., 8/10/21, at 1-3 (some formatting altered).3 ____________________________________________

2 It is undisputed that the trial court resentenced Appellant on June 9, 2021. See Sentencing Order, 6/9/21. However, the cover page on the notes of testimony for the resentencing hearing bears a date of June 25, 2021. The reason for this discrepancy is unclear. For purposes of our discussion, we will utilize the date of the sentencing order, June 9, 2021, to refer to the notes of testimony from Appellant’s resentencing hearing.

3 Because Appellant was actively and concurrently serving his probationary sentences for unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors prior to the violation, there was no anticipatory revocation of probation. Therefore, this Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Simmons, 262 A.3d 512 (Pa. Super. 2021) (en banc), holding that sentencing courts lack the statutory (Footnote Continued Next Page)

-4- J-S01043-22

Appellant subsequently filed a timely post-sentence motion. The trial

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. Foreman
797 A.2d 1005 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
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. Smith
669 A.2d 1008 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Grant
813 A.2d 726 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Perreault
930 A.2d 553 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Cappello
823 A.2d 936 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Mudrick
507 A.2d 1212 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Rhoades
8 A.3d 912 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Raven
97 A.3d 1244 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Samuel
102 A.3d 1001 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Colon
102 A.3d 1033 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. McClellan
178 A.3d 874 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Zirkle
107 A.3d 127 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Com. v. Koger, C.
2021 Pa. Super. 115 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021)
Com. v. Simmons, D.
2021 Pa. Super. 166 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021)
Com. v. Starr, E.
2020 Pa. Super. 147 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020)
Com. v. Felder, H.
2021 Pa. Super. 21 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Crabb, B., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-crabb-b-pasuperct-2022.