Com. v. Frazier, J.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Com. v. Frazier, J.

DecidedJanuary 28, 2021

Docket1064 EDA 2020

StatusUnpublished

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Com. v. Frazier, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

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Opinion

J-S56044-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JERRY FRAZIER : : Appellant : No. 1064 EDA 2020

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered February 14, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0601421-2003

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., KUNSELMAN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PELLEGRINI, J.: Filed: January 28, 2021

Jerry Frazier (Frazier) appeals from the February 14, 2020 order of the

Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (PCRA court) dismissing his

second petition pursuant to the Post-Conviction Relief Act.1 We affirm.

I.

A.

We glean the following facts from the certified record. On March 15,

2003, Jose Oquindo (Oquindo) was shot and killed outside of his house in

Philadelphia. Earlier that day, Oquindo had argued with a male2 who had been

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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.

2 This individual is not identified in the record. J-S56044-20

driving a white Suburban SUV. At 11:15 p.m., shortly before the shooting,

Oquindo and his fiancé, Wanda Figueroa (Figueroa), saw the white Suburban

SUV drive by their house and park further down the street. Oquindo told

Figueroa that he had been arguing with the man in the white Suburban SUV.

He later pointed out the man to Figueroa when he saw him standing on the

street corner.

Oquindo knew Frazier, whose nickname was “Man-Man,” prior to the

shooting. Figueroa had previously seen Frazier around the neighborhood but

did not know his name. At approximately 11:30 p.m. on the night of the

shooting, Oquindo and Figueroa were standing at the door to their house and

looking toward the bar across the street when Oquindo pointed to Frazier and

said, “That is Man-Man.” Notes of Testimony, 5/4/04, at 110. They watched

Frazier walk to a group of approximately ten people who were standing outside

of the bar. Frazier then called out to Oquindo and asked him to come over to

talk and Oquindo left the house to speak with him.

Figueroa went back inside and closed the door to the house but

moments later, she heard multiple gunshots. She immediately opened the

door and saw two men shooting at Oquindo as he ran back toward the house.

She said that the shooters were wearing dark hoodies and one was a black

male, but she was otherwise unable to identify anyone involved. She ducked

down for cover while holding the door open for Oquindo, but he fell to the

ground before he reached the door. Figueroa retreated into the house until

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the shooting stopped and then went back outside, where she saw Juan Carlos

Colon (Colon) holding Oquindo’s body. Oquindo had sustained numerous

gunshot wounds and died shortly thereafter. Figueroa did not see Frazier

during or after the shooting.

Prior to the shooting, Oquindo spoke for a few minutes with several

neighbors who lived across the street, including George Medina (Medina) and

Colon. Medina testified that he heard someone call to Oquindo immediately

before Oquindo began walking toward the bar. He did not see who had called

out to Oquindo. He then heard gunshots and saw two individuals shooting at

Oquindo. Medina initially told police that one of the shooters was wearing a

dark hoodie and drove a white Suburban SUV and that the other shooter was

dark-skinned. He had previously seen the driver of the white Suburban SUV

around the neighborhood and he knew that Oquindo had been arguing with

him earlier that day. However, at trial, Medina contradicted his initial

statement and testified that he did not see the driver of the white Suburban

SUV on the night of the shooting but had heard from someone else that he

was there.

At trial, the Commonwealth played a recording of the 911 call Medina

placed on the night of the shooting. The following exchange occurred:

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Q. Is that your voice on the tape that says, “That’s fucked up. Man Man[3] called him.”

A. He didn’t call him, but that’s what my cousin said, but he was nowhere around.

Q. Who was nowhere around?

A. Man Man.

Q. But you said that —

A. — [Colon] told me that when he came in the house, he said that Man Man had called him to the corner, but Man Man was nowhere around.

Notes of Testimony, 5/5/04, at 28. Medina later confirmed that he did not

see Frazier on the street when he drove by only a few minutes before the

shooting occurred. He stated that Colon told him that Frazier had called

Oquindo over from the bar, but he did not think that was possible since Frazier

was not outside at the time. Medina then testified that in his police interview

when he said he had seen the man who drove a white Suburban SUV, he was,

in fact, only repeating what his wife and Colon had told him.

Colon was the sole eyewitness who observed the shooting in full and

identified Frazier as one of the shooters. Colon knew Frazier from the

neighborhood and knew that his nickname was Man Man. On the night of the

shooting, Colon spoke to Oquindo outside with Medina. Contrary to Medina’s

3 Medina had previously testified that he was familiar with Frazier from living in the neighborhood.

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testimony, Colon testified that he saw Frazier crossing the street toward the

bar as he and Medina were returning to their home. Colon then heard Frazier

call out to Oquindo and say “Yo, Hose [sic], come over here.” Id. at 74.

Oquindo spoke briefly with Figueroa before walking toward Frazier. Colon

followed Oquindo to the bar because he was concerned that the man Oquindo

had argued with earlier that day might be in the area. He saw Frazier say to

Oquindo, “What’s the beef between you and my man?” Id. at 75.

Colon testified that Frazier then pulled out a gun and began shooting at

Oquindo, and two men nearby began shooting at Oquindo as well. Colon hid

behind a nearby car and watched the three men chase after Oquindo and

continue shooting. Colon then saw Frazier run away from the scene in one

direction while the other two shooters ran away down a different street. Colon

described the two additional shooters as wearing black hoodies and he said

that two shooters were Puerto Rican and one was black. Colon testified that

Medina agreed at that point that Frazier was the shooter. In his statement to

detectives shortly after the shooting, Colon said that “Man Man” shot Oquindo

and that he had known Man Man for approximately four or five months. Id.

at 134.

Investigators recovered 9-millimeter cartridges and 40 caliber

cartridges from the crime scene. They determined that all of the 9-millimeter

cartridges were fired from the same weapon and that all of the 40 caliber

cartridges were fired from the same weapon. They also recovered additional

-5- J-S56044-20

broken bullet specimens that were too damaged to determine what weapon

they had been fired from. Based on this evidence, investigators could say

with certainty that at least two guns were used in the shooting, though there

could have been more.

Following the reception of the evidence, a jury found Frazier guilty of

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