Com. v. Evans, K., III

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 16, 2019
Docket1770 MDA 2018
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Evans, K., III (Com. v. Evans, K., III) 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. Evans, K., III, (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

J-S41040-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellee : : v. : : KENNETH MALIK EVANS, III, : : Appellant : No. 1770 MDA 2018

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered September 24, 2018 in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-XX-XXXXXXX-2013

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., MURRAY, J. and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Kenneth Malik Evans, III (Appellant) appeals from the order entered

September 24, 2018, dismissing his petition filed under the Post Conviction

Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546. Counsel has filed a petition to

withdraw and a brief pursuant to Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927

(Pa. 1988) and Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988)

(en banc). Upon review, we grant counsel’s petition to withdraw and affirm

the order of the PCRA court.

In January 2014, a criminal information was filed charging Appellant

with one count of criminal homicide, stemming from the shooting of

Shantique Goodson (“the victim”) in the Sherman Hills Apartment Complex

on November 11, 2013. Pertinent to this appeal, the evidence presented at

trial established the following.

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S41040-19

[O]n the date in question, Tiara McDuffie (“McDuffie”), driving a white Jeep Cherokee with the victim as her passenger, drove into the Sherman Hills Apartment Complex. McDuffie did not park the car upon entering the complex because she saw Appellant in the complex. After seeing Appellant, the victim also told McDuffie not to park the vehicle. As a result, McDuffie cut across the parking lot and spun the car around to leave the area of the complex where Appellant was approaching. The two women headed to the apartment of their friend Jasmine Frazier (“Frazier”) that was located within the complex.

After McDuffie stopped the Jeep near Frazier’s apartment, Frazier approached the vehicle on the passenger side where the victim was sitting. The victim rolled the window down, and the parties engaged in a conversation. Moments later, Appellant aggressively approached the passenger side of the vehicle and addressed the victim. Appellant told the victim to get the “‘F’ out of the car.” After the victim refused, Appellant reached for the handle of the passenger side door. The victim commented to Appellant: “didn’t we discuss this yesterday?” Undeterred, Appellant pushed his left hand into the vehicle in an attempt to reach for the lock. The victim pushed Appellant’s left hand away from the lock, and Appellant then put his right hand into the passenger side of the vehicle. With his right hand in the passenger side of the vehicle, Appellant shot the victim twice.

Frazier testified that while she was still leaning into the passenger side window, she saw Appellant shoot the victim in the lower abdomen. After the two gunshots were fired, McDuffie sped away. Appellant continued to fire several shots at the vehicle as McDuffie drove off, and Appellant then ran off between the buildings of the complex. McDuffie drove the victim to the Wilkes–Barre General Hospital emergency room.

At trial, McDuffie explained that the friendship between the victim and Appellant had deteriorated approximately a week prior to the shooting. While not entirely clear from the record what they were, McDuffie testified that there were “issues” existing between victim and Appellant in the days leading up to the victim’s homicide. McDuffie testified that “leading up [to] this incident, things had got [sic] out of control to [sic] the friendship.”

-2- J-S41040-19

Dr. [Gary] Ross testified[, as an expert in the field of forensic pathology,] that the victim suffered two gunshot wounds. The first gunshot wound was to the victim’s vulvar region. Dr. Ross provided the following explanation regarding whether this was a lethal gunshot wound:

Not in and of itself. It certainly is a survivable wound, even though it’s to the vulvar region, even though it bled very copiously. It did not bleed enough to have—in my opinion, it did not bleed enough to have caused death in and of itself. It is certainly a medically survivable injury.

*** [The victim] died as a result of a hemorrhage from multiple gunshot wounds. This wound contributed to that hemorrhage, so this wound contributed to her death.

Dr. Ross further explained that the second gunshot wound was to the victim’s right thigh. Dr. Ross provided the following testimony regarding gunshot wound number two:

[Dr. Ross:] Gunshot wound number two is lethal in and of it[self]. Gunshot wound number two went through the soft tissues of the thigh and tore major vessels of the right femoral artery, which is the major artery within the right leg and also the right femoral vein. This wound bled copiously and she died as a result of the extenuation of bleeding from this wound.

[Commonwealth:] Is the femoral artery a vital part of the body?

[Dr. Ross:] It is.

[Commonwealth:] So [the victim] was shot in a vital part of the body, correct, Dr. Ross?

[Dr. Ross:] Yes.

-3- J-S41040-19

Commonwealth v. Evans, 144 A.3d 198 (Pa. Super. 2016) (unpublished

memorandum at *3-4) (citations omitted).

Following a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree

murder, and on October 24, 2014, Appellant was sentenced to life

imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This Court affirmed

Appellant’s judgment of sentence on March 14, 2016 and our Supreme Court

denied his petition for allowance of appeal. Evans, supra, appeal denied,

145 A.3d 162 (Pa. 2016).

On July 20, 2017, Appellant pro se filed a PCRA petition asserting trial

court error and ineffective assistance of trial counsel,1 as well as arguing

that the cumulative effect of counsel’s ineffectiveness denied Appellant the

right to a fair trial. Pro se PCRA Petition, 7/20/2017, at 3-11 (unnumbered).

The PCRA court scheduled a hearing on Appellant’s pro se petition,

appointed Jeffery A. Yelen, Esquire as counsel, and permitted Attorney Yelen

to file a supplemental petition if he deemed necessary. No supplemental

petition was filed, and on August 14, 2018, the PCRA court held an

evidentiary hearing. There, Appellant testified on his own behalf, raising the

aforementioned issues, as well as arguing that the evidence was insufficient

to support his conviction. N.T., 8/14/2018, at 12-14. In response, the

Commonwealth called trial counsel to testify. On September 24, 2018, the

1 Appellant was represented by co-counsel, Hugh Taylor, Esquire and John Pike, Esquire (collectively, “trial counsel”), at trial.

-4- J-S41040-19

PCRA court filed a memorandum opinion and order, dismissing Appellant’s

petition.

Appellant, through counsel, timely filed a notice of appeal.2

Subsequent to filing Appellant’s notice of appeal, Attorney Yelen filed a

motion for appointment of appellate counsel, seeking permission to withdraw

and requesting the PCRA court appoint substitute counsel to represent

Appellant on appeal. Motion for Appointment of Appellate Counsel,

10/24/2018. By order dated October 29, 2018, the PCRA court granted

Attorney Yelen’s motion and appointed Matthew P. Kelly, Esquire, who

presently represents Appellant on appeal. Order, 10/29/2018.

In this Court, Attorney Kelly filed a Turner/Finley brief and an

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Com. v. Evans, K., III, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-evans-k-iii-pasuperct-2019.