Com. v. Epps, C.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 24, 2025
Docket289 MDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Epps, C. (Com. v. Epps, C.) 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. Epps, C., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-S42023-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : CALVIN ALEXANDER EPPS : : Appellant : No. 289 MDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 5, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-22-CR-0002398-2021

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., BECK, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY BECK, J.: FILED: FEBRUARY 24, 2025

Calvin Alexander Epps (“Epps”) appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed by the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas (“trial court”)

following his convictions of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and

tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.1 Epps maintains that the

Commonwealth’s evidence was insufficient to prove the elements of these

crimes. He also asserts that his sentence is illegal because it did not credit

him for time he spent incarcerated prior to trial. Upon review, we hold that

the Commonwealth sufficiently established that Epps committed the crime of

____________________________________________

1 75 Pa.C.S. § 3733(a); 18 Pa.C.S. § 4910(1). Epps was also convicted of possession with intent to deliver, driving under the influence (controlled substance-metabolite) (“DUI”), possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered, possession of drug paraphernalia, and various summary motor vehicle violations, none of which is are at issue in this appeal. J-S42023-24

fleeing or eluding an officer, but pursuant to Commonwealth v. Delgado,

679 A.2d 223 (Pa. 1996), there was insufficient evidence to convict Epps of

tampering with or fabricating physical evidence as a matter of law.

Furthermore, because the trial court imposed an illegal sentence that failed to

credit Epps for certain time served prior to trial, we vacate Epps’ judgment of

sentence and remand for the trial court to impose a new sentence that

comports with the time credit mandates of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9760(1). Therefore,

we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate Epps’ sentence, and remand for

further proceedings consistent with this decision.

Factual and Procedural Histories

The Commonwealth established the following facts at Epps’ jury trial.

Trooper Scott Markley is a Pennsylvania State Trooper trained in interdicting

illegal drugs on the interstate highways. N.T., 12/12/2023, at 44. He

regularly patrols Interstate 81 (“I-81”) in Dauphin County, which is a highway

that connects New York to Tennessee. Id. at 45-47. Around 7:50 a.m. on

April 17, 2021, Trooper Markley was observing the southbound traffic on I-81

from his marked patrol vehicle, which was stationed in a median between the

northbound and southbound lanes around mile marker 81. Id. at 46-47.

Trooper Markley observed a black GMC SUV traveling southbound in the

lefthand lane. Id. at 45, 154. The SUV’s windows were heavily tinted—

including the front windshield—and it had temporary white paper license

plates. Id. at 47-48. An Audi sedan with tinted windows and temporary

-2- J-S42023-24

plates immediately trailed the SUV. Id. The duo traveling in a pair caught

Trooper Markley’s attention because criminals often use tinted windows and

temporary plates to evade detection of their criminal activities on the

highways. Id.

Trooper Markley pulled his vehicle out onto the highway behind the SUV

and sedan and attempted to catch up to the vehicles to run their license plate

numbers. Id. at 48-49. Instead of catching up to them in about a half mile

as Trooper Markley expected, he “could just barely see” the sedan and it

seemed like the SUV had “vanished.” Id. at 49, 57. After scanning the

highway, Trooper Markley saw the SUV “way up ahead.” Id. The SUV, which

the trooper previously observed to be driving around the speed limit, was now

“flying at a high rate of speed” and carelessly passing other cars by “weaving”

in and out of lanes. Id. at 49-50, 154. Trooper Markley activated his vehicle’s

lights and siren, notified the police dispatcher that he was pursuing the SUV,

and sped up. Id. at 50. He reported to the dispatcher that he estimated the

SUV’s speed at 100 miles per hour at this point. Id. at 135, 154. As he got

closer, the SUV passed a tractor trailer by driving over the rumble strips on

the right shoulder. Id. at 50. Once the SUV returned to the highway, it sped

around a slight bend. Id. at 51-52. Trooper Markley was driving 120 miles

per hour at this point but still had not caught up to the SUV. Id. at 51-52,

154. From approximately 200 to 300 yards behind, Trooper Markley “saw a

light-colored object fly out” of the SUV’s window, skip along the concrete

-3- J-S42023-24

shoulder, and stop in the grass on the side of the highway. Id. at 50-51, 136.

Suddenly, about one half to three quarters of a mile after the bag was thrown

out of the window, the SUV slowed down and pulled over to the left shoulder.

Id. at 52. The sedan followed suit. Id. at 61.

Trooper Markley learned through training and experience that during a

police pursuit, suspects commonly distance themselves from contraband by

discarding it along a bend in the road where the view of police is obscured and

then surrendering. Id. at 53. Trooper Markley believed that the item thrown

from the SUV’s window looked like a kilo of drugs, which are often transported

on Interstate 81 and packaged in a rectangular shape. Id. at 58-59.

Trooper Markley initiated a felony traffic stop and called for backup. Id.

at 59. Trooper Markley approached the SUV with his weapon drawn by his

hip. Id. at 61-62. Epps, who had been driving the SUV, exited the car, and

Trooper Markley detained him on the ground with handcuffs. Id. Trooper

Markley asked Epps where he was coming from and where he was going. Id.

at 71. Epps responded that he had arrived in Watertown, New York, near the

Canadian border around midnight and was returning to Maryland. Id. at 71-

72. According to Trooper Markley, a short turnaround trip during the hours

when fewer police patrol the highways was another indicator of potential drug

trafficking. Id. at 71.

During a pat-down of Epps, Trooper Markley recovered $1,370 in cash.

Id. The amount and denominations of the bills suggested that Epps was

-4- J-S42023-24

involved in drug trafficking on a larger scale than simply street-level drug

dealing. Id. Epps consented to a search of the SUV. Id. at 147. Police

recovered plastic Ziplock bags of leaf marijuana from the center console and

driver’s door of the SUV and Epps admitted that it was his marijuana.2 Id. at

73-75, 157.

After backup arrived, Trooper Markley drove another officer’s vehicle

back to where the package thrown from the SUV had landed. Id. at 64. He

retrieved a rectangular package from the grass alongside the highway. Id. at

65. Inside the package were 492 Xanax pills totaling 144 grams, packaged

into individual bags of 100 pills each. Id. at 76-81. Based upon Trooper

Markley’s experience, this weight of drugs was consistent with an intent to

distribute the drugs rather than personal use. Id. at 81-83.

Back at the traffic stop, Trooper Markley showed the package to Epps,

who denied any knowledge of it. Id. at 69. Epps did, however, identify one

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

Related

Commonwealth v. Morales
669 A.2d 1003 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Delgado
679 A.2d 223 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Yasipour
957 A.2d 734 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Com. v. Dixon, W., II
161 A.3d 949 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Wise
171 A.3d 784 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Com. of Pa. v. Gibbs
181 A.3d 1165 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Epps, C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-epps-c-pasuperct-2025.