Com. v. Maldonado, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 18, 2023
Docket217 EDA 2022
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Maldonado, J. (Com. v. Maldonado, J.) 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. Maldonado, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

J-S30023-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JEHOVAH MALDONADO : : Appellant : No. 217 EDA 2022

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 2, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-64-CR-0000052-2021

BEFORE: STABILE, J., McCAFFERY, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY McCAFFERY, J.: FILED APRIL 18, 2023

Jehovah Maldonado (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of sentence

entered in the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas, following his jury

convictions of burglary, trespass, theft by unlawful taking, and, separately,

persons not to possess a firearm.1 Appellant avers the trial court erred in: (1)

denying his pre-trial motion to reappoint counsel, where he and a co-

defendant were both represented by the Public Defender’s Office of Wayne

County;2 and (2) allowing the firearms charge to be tried before the same jury

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3502(a)(2), 3503(a)(1)(ii), 3921(a), 6105(a)(1).

2See Appellant’s Brief at 18. The appeal of the other defendant, Amelia Weikel, is currently before this same panel at Commonwealth v. Weikel, (Footnote Continued Next Page) J-S30023-22

following trial and a verdict on the three other offenses, rather than before a

new jury. We affirm.

I. Facts

The following uncontradicted evidence was presented at trial. Barbara

Carachilo and her husband, Leon Carachilo, were away from their home in

Hawley, Wayne County, in the early morning hours of September 6, 2020.3

N.T. Trial Vol. I, 11/9/21, at 10-11. Appellant forced open the basement door

of the home. N.T. Trial Vol. II, 11/10/21, at 18. He and Jessica Weikel entered

the home and took: three guns; five rings (jewelry) valued at $10,000; cash;

and surveillance cameras.4 N.T., 11/9/21, at 12, 14; N.T., 11/10/21, at 19-

20. Surveillance video inside the home showed Appellant in the living room

with a gun, as well as Appellant and Jessica in the bedroom going through a

jewelry box. N.T., 11/9/21, at 16-17. Jessica testified that several days after

the burglary, she accompanied and observed Appellant selling a firearm to

another individual. N.T., 11/10/21, at 16.

2301 EDA 2021. As we discuss infra, Amelia was not present at the burglary, but her wife, Jessica Weikel, was.

3Leon Carachilo passed away before trial; Barbara testified at trial. See N.T., 9/9/21, at 10.

4 Jessica testified she met Appellant a “[c]ouple months” earlier through Facebook. N.T., 11/10/21, at 29. Jessica was using heroin and methamphetamine at the time of the burglary. Id. at 17.

-2- J-S30023-22

Barbara stated she did not know either of the two individuals on the

surveillance video, but Jessica testified her wife, Amelia Weikel, knew Leon

Carachilo.5 N.T., 11/9/21, at 15; N.T., 11/10/21, at 26-27.

Jessica was arrested approximately one month after the burglary. N.T.,

11/10/21, at 22. Amelia was also arrested, apparently the same night, at the

hotel room where they were staying. See id. at 35. Amelia consented to a

search of the room, and officers found some of the jewelry taken from the

victims’ home. Id. at 35-36. In connection with this search, Amelia pleaded

guilty to receiving stolen property on June 15, 2021, and was sentenced on

September 30, 2021.6 Meanwhile, Jessica pleaded guilty to theft and was

sentenced to 16 to 60 months’ imprisonment, as part of a plea deal in which

she agreed to testify against Appellant. Id. at 16. We note both women were

sentenced before Appellant’s trial.

II. Procedural History

Meanwhile, Appellant was charged with conspiracy,7 burglary, persons

not to possess firearms, and related offenses. He is represented by Steven

5 We note Jessica also testified that she and Appellant were driven to the victims’ home, by her cousin, in a car belonging to Jessica and Amelia. N.T., 11/10/21, at 18, 27. These were the only two references to Amelia at Appellant’s trial.

6 We glean these dates from the certified record in Amelia’s case.

7 18 Pa.C.S. § 903(a).

-3- J-S30023-22

Burlein, Esquire (Trial Counsel), the Chief Public Defender of Wayne County.

On September 8, 2021, Appellant filed a motion to sever the firearms charge

for purposes of trial, requesting the firearm charge to be tried first. The trial

court issued an order, which did not specifically grant formal severance, but

stated the firearms charge would be tried first, with the remaining charges “to

be tried separately.” See Order, 9/9/21.

On October 18, 2021, however, the Commonwealth filed a “Motion to

Set Order of Trial/Proof,” which requested the other offenses be tried first,

with the firearm charge subsequently determined by the same jury. In

support, the Commonwealth cited: (1) judicial economy, as the evidence

would be largely duplicative; and (2) the lack of any prejudice to Appellant,

where the fact that he is a convicted felon would not be admissible at the first

portion of trial. The court granted the motion the same day. Pertinently,

neither the certified record nor trial docket indicate Appellant objected.

Next, on October 21, 2021, Appellant’s counsel filed a motion, seeking

withdrawal from representation and the appointment of new counsel for

Appellant, on the ground he and Amelia’s attorney were both members of the

Wayne County Public Defender’s (P.D.’s) Office. Trial Counsel claimed there

was a conflict of interest because: Appellant and Amelia were co-defendants;

their interests were in opposition to each other; and Amelia had agreed to

testify against Appellant. The Commonwealth filed an answer, claiming it did

not intend to call Amelia to testify, and furthermore Appellant and Amelia did

-4- J-S30023-22

not have inconsistent defenses, as both have denied any involvement in the

burglary.

The trial court heard oral argument on October 25, 2021. First, Trial

Counsel explained that until recently, the Wayne County P.D.’s Office

consisted of part-time attorneys, and it did not “have a separate office of

conflict counsel.” N.T., 10/25/21, at 4, 5. “[N]ormally[,]” the Office would

represent co-defendants until a conflict-of-interest issue was raised. Id. at 4.

In this case, Appellant raised such an issue with Trial Counsel, who filed the

motion for re-appointment of counsel the following day. Id. Trial Counsel

further stated the Public Defender attorneys were now all full-time, thus “the

model [they] have had for many years has changed,” and the trial court should

recognize the Office as a law firm, whose attorneys could not “represent

people who have divergent interests.”8 Id. at 5.

8 On appeal, the Commonwealth asserts the assistant public defenders are “Independent Contractors,” rather than full-time employees. See Commonwealth’s Brief at 5. However, as Appellant points out, no such representation was made at the hearing. See Appellant’s Reply Brief at 4.

In any event, this Court rejected a similar argument in Commonwealth v. Green, 550 A.2d 1011 (Pa. Super. 1988).

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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Maldonado, J., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-maldonado-j-pasuperct-2023.