Com. v. Davis, A.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 15, 2024
Docket1220 WDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

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

Opinion

J-S18043-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : AARON DEAN DAVIS : : Appellant : No. 1220 WDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered July 20, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of McKean County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-42-CR-0000116-2022, CP-42-CR-0000292-2021

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., McLAUGHLIN, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SULLIVAN, J.: FILED: July 15, 2024

Aaron Dean Davis (“Davis”) appeals from the judgment of sentence

following his jury convictions of six counts of unlawful contact with a minor1.2

For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

We take the underlying facts and procedural history from our review of

the certified record.3 In 2021, Davis met S.H. (“Aunt”) through a computer

____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6318(a)(2) and (4).

2 Davis was charged in two other unrelated matters. The three cases, all of which involved sexual offenses against minors, were consolidated for trial. In case CP-42-CR-0000116-2022, a jury convicted Davis of charges of obscene and other sexual materials, unlawful contact with a minor, and related offenses. In case CP-42-CR-0000191-2022, a jury acquitted Davis of charges of rape of a minor and related offenses.

3 Because the sole issue raised by Davis with respect to case CP-42-CR- 0000116-2022, concerns the legality of sentence, we will not delineate the facts underlying that conviction. J-S18043-24

app. See N.T. Trial, 1/17/23, at 18. After informing Davis she was “taken”

and thus only interested in making new friends, the two corresponded via the

app and by text. Id. at 17-18, 21-22. At some point, Davis told Aunt he had

looked at her Facebook page and questioned her about a photograph of a girl

he said he thought was her sister but was her thirteen-year-old niece, Y.H.

(“Daughter”). See id. at 17, 19-20, 21. Davis asked for Daughter’s phone

number, and said he wanted to buy Daughter clothes and go shopping with

her. See id. at 18, 20, 22. Aunt initially told Davis “No” but he persisted;

she then contacted her sister, the child’s mother, A.H. (“Mother”). See id. at

18-20, 22. Mother told Aunt to give Davis her telephone number but say it

was Daughter’s. See id.

Davis messaged Mother’s phone, which he thought belonged to

Daughter. See id. at 25-26. During the exchange, Davis made various

statements which made clear he knew Daughter was thirteen. See id. at 26-

27, 31. Davis sent multiple sexually explicit texts, including the following: (1)

asking if Daughter needed a bra; (2) asking if Daughter was on birth control;

(3) asking “[i]f we do anything, would I have to buy condoms or pull out?”;

(4) asking “are you a virgin?”; (5) stating “so you want to ride my cock;” and

(6) asking Daughter to send him explicit pictures. Id. at 27-30. Mother then

contacted the local police and showed them the text messages. See id. at

24, 27.

-2- J-S18043-24

City of Bradford Police Officer Matthew Gustin (“Officer Gustin”) met

with Mother, examined her phone, photographed Davis’s texts; and spent

approximately forty-minutes in Mother’s presence posing as Daughter and

texting with Davis. See id. at 31, 35, 37-39. During the text conversation,

Davis asked, “Can I come in your mouth?” and then sent a picture of his

clothed lap, saying, “Do you like?” Id. at 39. Officer Gustin responded, “I

don’t know, never have.” Id. at 40. Davis then asked, “Do you want to see

my D?” Id. at 45. When Officer Gustin responded, Davis sent two photos of

his penis along with messages asking, “Can I be the first inside you?” and “Did

I make you wet?” Id. at 45-46. Davis asked Officer Gustin to send him

explicit pictures and sent a video of himself masturbating. See id. at 46-47.

Officer Gustin continued the text conversation with Davis two days later,

enlisting the aid of Police Officer Shelby Walters Fuqua (“Officer Fuqua”). See

id. at 47-48.

At Officer Gustin’s direction, Officer Fuqua spoke on the phone with

Davis, pretending to be Daughter. See id. at 55-56. During that

conversation, Davis asked her to describe her underwear and asked for a

photo of her in the underwear. See id. at 56.

Following a police investigation, the Commonwealth filed charges

against Davis in all three cases noted above. A jury trial took place in January

2023. In case CP-42-CR-0000292-2021, a jury convicted Davis of the above-

listed charges. After receipt of a pre-sentence investigation report and an

-3- J-S18043-24

assessment by the sexual offender assessment board (“SOAB”), the trial court

held a sexually violent predator (“SVP”) hearing. At the conclusion of the

hearing, the trial court found Davis to be an SVP. See N.T. SVP Hearing,

6/7/23, at 33. Because Davis had a prior conviction in New York State which

required him to register as a sex offender,4 the Commonwealth issued notice

of intent to seek the mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A.

§ 9718.2. The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of seventy-five to

one-hundred-and-fifty years in prison, to be followed by nine years of

probation. See N.T. Sentencing, 6/20/23, at 2, 14. Despite being

represented by counsel, Davis filed a timely pro se5 notice of appeal

challenging his convictions on both cases.6

On appeal, Davis raises the following issues for our review.

1. Whether the evidence presented by the Commonwealth at trial was insufficient to find [Davis] guilty of violating 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6318(a)(4) (unlawful contact with a minor) as to counts 1 through 6 in case no. CP-42-CR-0000292-2021?

2. Whether the trial court’s imposition of sentence under 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9178.2 is legally invalid because the court did not have adequate records and no showing was made that [Davis] had been convicted of a qualifying prior offense under the laws

4 Davis also had a 2022 conviction in McKean County for failing to register as

a sex offender.

5 See Commonwealth v. Williams, 151 A.3d 621, 624 (Pa. Super. 2016)

(holding this Court is required to docket pro se notices of appeal despite the appellant being represented by counsel).

6 Davis and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

-4- J-S18043-24

of this Commonwealth or another jurisdiction before applying the mandatory minimum sentencing scheme?

Davis’s Brief at 4 (capitalization and citation format regularized, bolding

omitted).

Before reaching Davis’s issues, we address our jurisdiction. As noted,

Davis’s single notice of appeal contained two docket numbers. In

Commonwealth v. Walker, 185 A.3d 969 (Pa. 2018), our Supreme Court

held “where a single order resolves issues arising on more than one docket,

separate notices of appeal must be filed for each case,” or the appeal will be

quashed. Id. at 976-77; see also Pa.R.A.P. 341, note. Here, at sentencing,

the trial court informed Davis he had the right to file “an appeal” within thirty

days of sentencing, not that he needed to file a separate appeal for each

docket number. N.T. Sentencing, 7/20/23, at 15-16. Pursuant to

Commonwealth v. Larkin, 235 A.3d 350 (Pa. Super. 2020) (en banc), and

Commonwealth v.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Williams
151 A.3d 621 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)
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172 A.3d 632 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Walker, T.
185 A.3d 969 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Levy
83 A.3d 457 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Com. v. Stansbury, K.
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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Davis, A., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-davis-a-pasuperct-2024.