Com. v. Deloatch, L

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 26, 2025
Docket985 EDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Deloatch, L (Com. v. Deloatch, L) 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. Deloatch, L, (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-A10022-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : LESTER DELOATCH : : Appellant : No. 985 EDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered March 1, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0001559-2023

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : LESTER DELOATCH : : Appellant : No. 986 EDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered March 1, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0001557-2023

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., BECK, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E. *

MEMORANDUM BY BECK, J.: FILED JUNE 26, 2025

In these consolidated cases, Lester Deloatch (“Deloatch”) appeals from

the judgments of sentence imposed by the Philadelphia County Court of

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-A10022-25

Common Pleas (“trial court”) following his convictions of burglary 1 and other

crimes. Deloatch argues that the Commonwealth introduced insufficient

evidence to establish an element of burglary, namely that he entered the

apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Sianni Gilliam (“Gilliam”), with the intent to

commit a crime therein. He also challenges the trial court’s authority to decide

that he was ineligible for a motivational boot camp program pursuant to

Pa.C.S. § 3904 based upon the trial court’s misunderstanding of the statutory

authority to waive eligibility requirements. After review, we affirm.

Following incidents between Deloatch and Gilliam on November 3, 2022,

and December 17, 2022, police charged Deloatch with crimes at two docket

numbers.2 After consolidation of the dockets, the trial court presided over a

non-jury bench trial on September 27, 2023, at which the Commonwealth

1 18 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a)(1)(i).

2 At docket number CP-51-CR-0001557-2023, the Commonwealth charged Deloatch with robbery—take property from other/force, theft by unlawful taking—moveable property, receiving stolen property, and harassment— subject other to physical contact. See 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701(a)(1)(v), 3921(a), 3925(a), 2709(a)(1). At docket number CP-51-CR-0001559-2023, the Commonwealth charged Deloatch with burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking—moveable property, receiving stolen property, possessing an instrument of crime, simple assault, criminal mischief, and harassment— subject others to physical contact. See 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3502(a)(1)(i), 3503(a)(i), 3921(a), 3925(a), 907(a), 2705, 3304(a)(5), 2709(a)(1). The Commonwealth also charged Deloatch with recklessly endangering another person in connection with the second incident, but the trial court acquitted Deloatch of this charge.

-2- J-A10022-25

presented the testimony of Gilliam and three police officers who took reports

from Gilliam about the incidents.

According to Gilliam, she was in a relationship with Deloatch that ended

in September 2022. N.T., 9/27/2023, at 19-20, 48. On November 3, 2022,

Gilliam had just parked her car on the street and was proceeding through a

gate into her apartment complex when she saw Deloatch approaching her

from the rear. Id. at 19-22, 44-45. Deloatch argued with Gilliam, accusing

her of seeing someone else; then he snatched her purse from her shoulder,

removed her keys from inside the purse, and grabbed her cell phone from her

hand. Id. at 23-25, 46-47, 49. After Deloatch fled, Gilliam reported the

incident to police. Id. at 24-25, 57-59. Because Deloatch stole her apartment

keys, she changed the locks on her apartment door. Id. at 49.

On December 17, 2022, Gilliam locked both doors to her apartment and

went to sleep. Id. at 25-27. Gilliam was awakened by Deloatch, who was in

her bedroom looking through her cell phone and accusing her of cheating on

him. Id. at 26-28. When he briefly left her bedroom to enter her kitchen,

leaving her phone on the bed, Gilliam called the police. Id. at 28-31, 51.

Deloatch returned to Gilliam’s bedroom. Id. at 31. He resumed looking

through Gilliam’s phone and questioning her about numbers he found. Id. at

31. Deloatch stood over top of Gilliam’s bed and punched her on her arms

and legs. Id. at 31-32. She attempted to leave the apartment, but Deloatch

pushed her and hit her chest with the door. Id. at 31-34. He then threw her

-3- J-A10022-25

phone into the stairwell and broke it. Id. at 36-37. According to Gilliam, the

knob on her front door, which typically was loose, was now “off the hinge.”

Id. at 43-44. Gilliam also testified that Deloatch had a “box cutter” knife in

his hand at some point during the incident. Id. at 35. She sustained bruising

on her legs from Deloatch’s punches, but she did not show or report her

injuries to police. Id. at 53, 65. Gilliam testified that she told police that her

ex-boyfriend had broken into her apartment, see id. at 29, 52, but the

responding officer recalled that she only had reported that her ex-boyfriend

came to her apartment, caused a disturbance, and took her cell phone. Id.

at 63, 65.

Gilliam also described a third incident that occurred outside of

Philadelphia on January 27, 2023.3 Gilliam saw Deloatch at an adjacent gas

pump while she was filling her car with gas. She drove away in her car, but

Deloatch followed her in his car. Id. at 39-40. After about a mile, he sped

up and “cut [her] off” by moving his car in front of hers so that she was forced

to stop her car off the road in the grass. Id. at 39-40. Deloatch banged on

her car window and she called the police. Id. She complied with his demands

to roll down the window. Id. He accused her of being on her way to see

3 The trial court permitted the Commonwealth to introduce evidence concerning the third incident to prove motive and intent pursuant to Pa.R.E. 404(b)(2). Order Granting Motion to Admit Other Acts Evidence, 7/21/2023, at 1.

-4- J-A10022-25

someone else. Id. Deloatch reached through her car window, yanked her

keys out of the ignition, and took her phone out of her hand. Id. at 40-41.

Deloatch testified on his own behalf. He denied that he was at Gilliam’s

apartment on November 3, 2022, but admitted to being there on December

17, 2022. Id. at 74, 78. Deloatch claimed that he resided with Gilliam from

mid-2022 to December 17, 2022, and maintained his own set of keys. Id. at

77, 80-81. In tension with his claim that he lived with Gilliam, he maintained

that Gilliam invited him to her apartment on December 17, 2022, and that

they had a verbal argument. Id. at 75, 78. The parties stipulated that if

Deloatch’s father were to testify, he would testify that Deloatch has a

reputation in his community for being peaceful. Id. at 73.

At the conclusion of trial, the trial court found Deloatch guilty of all

charged crimes except recklessly endangering another person.

The trial court ordered a presentence investigation report (“PSI”) and a

mental health evaluation, following which it conducted a sentencing hearing

on March 1, 2024. Deloatch’s counsel advocated for a sentence of three to

six years of incarceration and a finding that he was eligible for boot camp.

N.T., 3/1/2024, at 18-19. His counsel acknowledged that his burglary

conviction rendered him ineligible for the motivational boot camp program, 4

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