Com. v. Erler, G.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided August 26, 2026·No. 1230 MDA 2025·Unpublished·McLaughlin

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

GREG DARIN ERLER :

:

Appellant : No. 1230 MDA 2025

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered August 13, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-28-CR-0001975-2014

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and BENDER, P.J.E. MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED AUGUST 26, 2026 Greg Darin Erler appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed following his convictions for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child (“IDSI”), complainant less than 16 years of age; aggravated indecent assault, complainant less than 13 years of age; aggravated indecent assault, complainant less than 16 years of age; and corruption of minors.1 Erler argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and in denying his motion in limine; the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict; and the court imposed an unconstitutional sentence. We affirm.

Charges were initially brought against Erler by the Pennsylvania State Police in 2014. The police alleged Erler had sexually abused his minor

stepdaughter (“the victim”) between 2011 and 2014.

1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3123(a)(7), 3125(a)(7) and (a)(8), and 6301(a)(1)(ii), respectively.

Erler pleaded guilty and was sentenced. His judgment of sentence was affirmed by this Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied his allowance of appeal. See Commonwealth v. Erler, No. 1065 MDA 2015, 2016 WL 1221433 (Pa.Super. filed Mar. 29, 2016) (unpublished mem.), appeal denied, 157 A.3d 484 (Table) (Pa. 2016). However, Erler filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief, and the post-conviction court found merit to Erler’s claim that his plea counsel had been ineffective in advising him that pleading guilty would not affect his right to have visitation with his sons. The court vacated Erler’s guilty plea and sentence. See Opinion/PCRA Order, 12/11/2018. The case returned to the trial list.

Erler filed a pre-trial motion to suppress his recorded statement to the police. He argued that his Miranda2 waiver was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. After a hearing, the court denied the motion. See Order, 8/17/20.

The Commonwealth filed a notice of intent to present evidence of Erler’s prior bad acts, i.e., statements made during Erler’s police interview regarding a 1997 criminal case in which Erler had pleaded guilty to indecent assault3 of a different minor stepdaughter. Erler filed a motion in limine seeking to preclude evidence of the 1997 case. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part. It forbade the Commonwealth from introducing direct evidence of the charges, guilty plea, or sentence in the 1997 case, but allowed

2 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

3 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3126(a)(1).

the Commonwealth to introduce Erler’s police statement in the instant case, which included references to the 1997 case. See Order, 6/13/25.

At a one-day trial in June 2025, the Commonwealth introduced the testimony of the victim, her mother, and the State Police trooper that took Erler’s statement. It also introduced the recording of Erler’s police statement. Erler testified in his defense.

At the conclusion of trial, the jury convicted Erler of the above-listed crimes.4 The court imposed an aggregate sentence of 25 to 50 years’ incarceration, including mandatory minimum sentences pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9718.2(a)(1).5 Erler appealed. He raises the following:

I. Did the Trial Court err by denying [Erler]’s Omnibus Pre-Trial Motion to suppress [Erler]’s interview with Trooper Baney?

II. Did the Trial Court err by denying [Erler]’s Motion In Limine to exclude all references to Erler’s 1997 conviction for M2 Indecent Assault?

III. Was the evidence presented by the Commonwealth at Trial insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Erler] was guilty of Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Aggravated Indecent Assault?

IV. Did the Trial Court err by sentencing [Erler] to a statutory minimum of 25 years per 42 Pa.C.S.A. §[ ]9718.2.?

Erler’s Br. at 6 (suggested answers omitted).

4 The jury acquitted Erler of IDSI of a child. See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3123(b).

5 The court imposed three concurrent sentences of 300-600 months’ incarceration. It imposed no further penalty on Erler’s conviction for aggravated indecent assault, complainant less than 16 years of age.

I. Motion to Suppress

Erler first challenges the court’s denial of his motion to suppress. Our review of this issue is guided by the following standard:

When reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress, we may consider only the evidence of the Commonwealth and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted.

Our scope of review of suppression rulings includes only the suppression hearing record. We are bound by the suppression court’s factual findings that are supported by the record. Where there is a question of law, our standard of review is de novo.

Commonwealth v. Ward, 318 A.3d 410, 413-14 (Pa.Super. 2024) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), appeal denied, 346 A.3d 316 (Pa. 2025).

Erler alleges that his wife called him from the police barracks claiming that she and their children had been involved in an automobile accident, but that this was a ruse designed to induce him to come to the barracks. Erler claimed that once he arrived at the barracks, he was arrested and interrogated and made incriminating statements. He asserted a State Police trooper asked him to sign a form stating he had been advised of his rights to silence and to an attorney, and he signed it. However, Erler claimed this waiver was not voluntary, knowing, and intelligent, because “[t]he state of distress that [he] was in from believing that his family had just been in an auto accident had not subsided at the time when [he] signed his Miranda waiver. In the totality

of the circumstances, this rendered him incapable of intelligently waiving his rights.” Erler’s Br. at 12.6 After a hearing,7 the court denied the motion to suppress. The court found,

In this case, the Defendant Erler may have been lied to by the police to get him to enter into the Pennsylvania Police Barracks.

But when he was presented the Miranda document, there was no indication that he didn’t appreciate the gravity of the words on the page. The words clearly advise him that he has the option to not speak to the officers conducting the interrogation or remain silent.

He understood he had a right to counsel. He was within the police barracks, an environment that tells reasonable persons that the police are seeking information and so circumspection as to why you are being questioned must be appreciated. The document the defendant signed is prominently titled “WARNING AND WAIVER”.

The ordinary use of the words of “warning” and “waiver” tells any ordinary citizen that you are not going to be having a casual conversation with the interviewing officers. While the court appreciates that the defendant may have had concerns about his family and an accident, the court cannot agree that those worries overcome the clarity of the language in the waiver. His common sense had to tell him that if the police simply wanted to advise him that his family members were in danger, they wouldn’t take the time to place him in an interview room and go through the effort of getting him to sign the Miranda waiver document. The defendant, like all persons who encounter the police and have the Miranda warnings read to them, must assume they are the target of a criminal investigation and possible prosecution. Thus if you answer the questions posed, the answers provided will likely surface as part of the evidence if criminally prosecuted.

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Com. v. Erler, G., (Pa. Ct. App. 2026).

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