Com. v. Lisowski, T.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 7, 2024
Docket1404 MDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Lisowski, T. (Com. v. Lisowski, T.) 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. Lisowski, T., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S36036-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : THOMAS MICHAEL LISOWSKI : : Appellant : No. 1404 MDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered September 13, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Wyoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-66-CR-0000038-2023

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

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED NOVEMBER 07, 2024

Appellant, Thomas Michael Lisowski, appeals from the judgment of

sentence of 12 to 24 months’ incarceration, imposed after a jury convicted

him of obstructing administration of law (hereinafter, “obstruction”), 18

Pa.C.S. § 5101. Herein, Appellant alleges that the trial court erred by failing

to grant a mistrial, that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction,

and that the Commonwealth committed prosecutorial misconduct so

egregious as to bar a retrial. After careful review, we affirm.

The trial court summarized the facts and procedural history of this case,

as follows:

[Appellant] was charged with one count of [obstruction]…, a misdemeanor of the second degree, from an incident that occurred on April 18, 2020[,] in Tunkhannock Township, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. More specifically, the [c]riminal [i]nformation states that [Appellant] “intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law or other governmental function by force, violence, physical interference or J-S36036-24

obstacle, breach of official duty, or any other unlawful act, to wit, … [Appellant] continually refused to follow commands to turn around and face his vehicle and to keep his hands out of his pockets after being told to do so by [Patrolman] Benjamin Seibert[,] requiring him to take … [Appellant] to the ground and handcuff him.” On July 18, 2023[,] a jury trial was held on this charge where [Appellant] was pro se with [c]ourt-appointed standby counsel seated with him.

Patrolman Benjamin Seibert (hereinafter “Patrolman Seibert”) is a police officer with the Tunkhannock Township Police Department and he testified that on April 18, 2020[,] at about 7:00 p.m.[,] he was dispatched to a residence located at 8 Fir Road for a domestic incident where a gun had been fired … inside … the residence. Patrolman Seibert presented to the residence in a marked police car in full uniform with Patrolman Stephen Williams (hereinafter “Patrolman Williams”). At the residence, the [o]fficers were met by Deborah VanVleck[,] who indicated the she and her husband, Shawn VanVleck, had been arguing and that her husband was drinking and that he fired a shotgun from the basement into the first floor of the residence. The [o]fficers observed a hole in the ceiling and in one of the first-floor bedrooms. Deborah VanVleck informed the [o]fficers that her husband left the residence in a black Jeep Commander, intoxicated[,] with the shot[]gun and without a valid driver’s license.

With this information, Patrolmen Seibert and Williams began to patrol the area looking for the Jeep Commander with tinted windows. Sometime thereafter, Patrolman Seibert spotted the vehicle on State Route 92 and pulled out to follow it in his marked police car. Upon pulling behind the Jeep Commander, Patrolman Seibert began recording from his dashcam.

Patrolman Seibert did not stop the Jeep immediately as he was waiting for the assistance of Patrolman Williams. Patrolman Seibert eventually activated his lights so that the Jeep would pull over and he could continue his investigation of what had occurred at the VanVleck residence. The Jeep pulled over in front of a mobile home, which Patrolman Seibert later learned was where [Appellant] was staying. [Appellant] testified that he was aware of the situation at the VanVleck residence prior to being pulled over and he was aware that Shawn VanVleck had been drinking and had the shotgun in the Jeep.

-2- J-S36036-24

When Patrolman Seibert approached the vehicle, it was [Appellant] who [was] driving the vehicle with a passenger inside the vehicle. When he was asked for his identification[, Appellant] refused to provide it and [Appellant] told Patrolman Seibert to “get the fuck off of his property.” Patrolman Williams testified that [Appellant] was very combative and he refused to step back from the [p]atrolman.

After numerous requests by Patrolman Seibert, [Appellant] eventually gave the [p]atrolman his license. Patrolman Seibert was concerned[,] given that there were two (2) males in the vehicle with a shotgun and tinted windows so he could not see inside the back of the vehicle and Patrolman Williams had not yet arrived on the scene. [Appellant] got out of his vehicle and at this point Patrolman Williams arrived on the scene as well as [Appellant’s] mother. [Appellant] proceeded to yell at the officers telling him that he would not listen to them[,] nor answer any of their questions. [Appellant] refused to follow the [p]atrolmen’s request to step away from the vehicle. [Appellant] repeatedly told the [p]atrolmen to get “the fuck of off his property” and that he would not make this [encounter] easy for them. Patrolman Williams struck [Appellant] in the head to confuse [Appellant] and help take him down to get him into custody.

Shawn VanVleck exited the vehicle and was placed in handcuffs so the [p]atrolmen could deal with [Appellant] because he was behaving so irately. [Appellant] was directed to take his hands out of his pockets so that the [p]atrolmen could handcuff him until they conducted their investigation and located the shotgun in the vehicle. After the [p]atrolmen got [Appellant] and Shawn VanVleck in handcuffs, they were able to locate the shotgun in the Jeep.

Prior to closing arguments, [Appellant] made an oral motion to dismiss[,] arguing that because he had no knowledge of the investigation surrounding the stop, he could not be charged with [o]bstructing [a]dministration of [l]aw. That [m]otion was denied following argument by the Commonwealth.

Following a jury trial, [Appellant] was found guilty of [obstruction]…. [Appellant] filed a [p]ost-[t]rial [m]otion[,] which was denied by this [c]ourt’s [o]rder dated August 1, 2023. [Appellant] was sentenced on September 13, 2023[,] to a period of[] twelve (12) to twenty-four (24) months in a [s]tate [i]nstitution.

-3- J-S36036-24

Trial Court Opinion (TCO), 1/25/24, at 1-4 (unpaginated; citations to the

record omitted).

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, and he and the court complied

with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. Herein, Appellant raises three issues for our review,

which we have reordered for ease of disposition:

I. Whether the court erred when it failed to grant a mistrial after [Appellant], representing himself pro se, was denied a fair trial when he was handcuffed and removed from the courtroom for making a lawful, necessary[,] and appropriate objection.

II. Whether the prosecutor engaged in prosecutorial misconduct and [Appellant] should be barred from retrial.

III. Whether the Commonwealth lacked a prima facie case to assert a charge of obstruction…, a violation of 18 Pa.C.S.[] [§] 5101.

Appellant’s Brief at 5 (unnecessary capitalization and emphasis omitted).

First, Appellant argues that the trial court erred by failing to grant his

motion for a mistrial after he was allegedly “handcuffed and removed from the

courtroom for making a lawful, necessary[,] and appropriate objection.” Id.

at 14 (emphasis and capitalization omitted). Appellant, who represented

himself at trial, claims that he correctly raised a pro se objection during closing

arguments when the prosecutor said that “if you resist arrest, that act, those

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Lisowski, T., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-lisowski-t-pasuperct-2024.