Com. v. Dilfalco, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 16, 2025
Docket1993 EDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Dilfalco, J. (Com. v. Dilfalco, J.) 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. Dilfalco, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-S09033-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JOSEPH DILFALCO : : Appellant : No. 1993 EDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 19, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0007929-2018

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., BECK, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED APRIL 16, 2025

Appellant Joseph Difalco appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed following his conviction for robbery and related offenses. Appellant

argues that the trial court erred in denying his Pa.R.Crim.P. 600(A) motion to

dismiss and, further, he claims that the verdict was against the weight of the

evidence. The instant matter was previously brought before this Court, raising

the same issues, in the case docketed at 2180 EDA 2022. Following review,

this Court vacated and remanded for a new Rule 600 hearing. Said hearing

was subsequently held on December 18, 2023, presided over by the Honorable

Judge Zachary Shaffer of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. As

such, the matter is now ripe for our disposition, and, following review of the

updated record, we affirm.

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J-S09033-25

The factual and procedural history of the case is as follows: on August

8, 2018, Appellant was arrested and charged with, inter alia, robbery, firearms

not to be carried without a license, carrying firearms in public in Philadelphia,

simple assault, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, possession

of an instrument of a crime, recklessly endangering another person, and

terroristic threats.1 Following several delays of the proceedings, Appellant filed

a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 600 on September 14, 2021. On

November 1, 2021, a hearing on that motion was held, presided over by the

Honorable Judge Mia Roberts Perez. Judge Perez denied Appellant’s motion to

dismiss, and a waiver trial before the lower court commenced immediately

following the denial. At trial, the Commonwealth established the following:

On August 5, 2018, the victim, Ruben Ruiz, was in his apartment located

at 1821 East Hagert Street in Philadelphia. N.T. 11/1/21 at 26. At that time,

Mr. Ruiz was in the business of selling marijuana. Id. at 26, 50-51. Several

days prior to August 5, Appellant and the victim began to communicate via

text messages, having been introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Id.

Appellant was initially known to the victim by the alias “Ses.” Id. at 64. On

August 4, Appellant and victim texted to arrange for a buy to be conducted

outside the victim’s apartment. Id. at 26. When Appellant arrived, he was

accompanied by an individual not known to the victim, whose name the victim

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701(a)(1)(ii), 6106(a)(1), 6108, 2701(a), 3921(a), 3925(a),

907(a), 2705, and 2706, respectively.

-2- J-S09033-25

later learned was “Santiago.” Id. at 28-29. Appellant asked the victim if his

friend could use the victim’s bathroom, to which the victim agreed. Id. The

three took the elevator up to the fifth floor, where the victim’s apartment was

located. Id. The victim put his dog away, and then he let the two other men

into the apartment. Id. While Santiago was in the bathroom, Appellant and

victim spoke, and victim gave Appellant the marijuana he had arranged to

purchase. Id. at 53. Appellant did not pay for the marijuana. Id. Appellant

then used the bathroom after Santiago. Id. at 28-29. Upon exiting the

bathroom, Appellant was holding a black sawed-off shotgun. Id.

While holding the gun, Appellant told the victim to hand over his wallet

and phone, which the victim did. Id. at 30, 56-57. The victim then saw that

Santiago was wearing brass knuckles and was standing between himself and

the door. Id. at 30, 40. The victim panicked, and attempted to leave the

apartment. Id. As the victim ran past, Santiago “either [. . .] punched [the

victim] or blocked [him] from getting out of the door,” but the victim clarified

that “whatever happened, it didn’t track or make contact,” and the victim was

able to flee the apartment. Id. at 40. The victim then checked every door

along the hallway, looking for one that was open. Id. After finding that his

neighbor Luba Ulyansky’s door was unlocked, the victim went inside and called

the police with her assistance. Id. at 31, 67.

Ms. Ulyansky was called to testify at trial, and confirmed that, on the

date in question, the victim ran into her apartment fleeing from a man with a

-3- J-S09033-25

gun. Id. at 67. Ms. Ulyansky recalled that the victim informed her at that time

that “he was selling weed to [a man], and [the victim] let [the man] use the

bathroom, and the man came out with a gun.” Id. at 68. She confirmed that

she had left her door unlocked, and that the victim came in “very stressed,

like anybody would be if somebody was chasing them. He was running [and]

yelling.” Id. Ms. Ulyansky texted a police officer with whom she was friends,

and the victim called the police from her apartment. Id.

Detective James Gruninger also testified at trial, having processed the

scene of the crime. Id. at 72-73. Two cell phones were recovered from the

scene, one of which belonged to the victim. Id. Review of security camera

footage from the apartment building yielded images of the victim and two

males accompanying him into the building. Id. The victim identified the

Appellant as one of the men in the footage, using the name “Ses,” and was

able to provide Detective Gruninger with contact information for Appellant.

Id.

Using that information, Detective Gruninger was able to link Appellant

to various online social media accounts, including both Facebook and

Instagram accounts of Appellant and Appellant’s girlfriend. Id. at 76. Review

of those accounts by Detective Gruninger yielded Appellant’s legal name,

Joseph Difalco. Id. at 77. Detective Gruninger was then able to obtain a search

warrant for Appellant’s apartment; execution of that search warrant on August

6, 2018, yielded the clothing Appellant was wearing in the security camera

-4- J-S09033-25

footage, as well as brass knuckles. Id. 77-79. No firearm was recovered from

Appellant’s apartment. Id. The victim also provided the detective with a text

message sent from the Appellant which stated “I hope you didn't talk too much

to the police. It's not good for drug dealers to cooperate with the law.” Id. at

45.

Following trial, Appellant was found guilty on all counts except for

terroristic threats, of which he was found not guilty. Id. at 101. Appellant was

subsequently sentenced on February 18, 2022, to an aggregate term of five

to ten years of confinement. N.T. 2/18/22 at 27-28.

On February 25, 2022, Appellant timely filed a motion for

reconsideration challenging the discretionary aspects of his sentence, and a

second, separate, post-sentence motion challenging the weight of the

evidence. On February 28, 2022, the trial court entered an order denying

Appellant’s motion for reconsideration of sentence without a hearing;

however, the order purporting to deny Appellant’ separate post-sentence

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