Com. v. McClintic, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 18, 2017
DocketCom. v. McClintic, J. No. 2567 EDA 2009
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. McClintic, J. (Com. v. McClintic, 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. McClintic, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

J-A27032-16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA v.

JOHN MCCLINTIC

Appellant No. 2567 EDA 2009

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence August 12, 2009 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): 10207058511 CP-51-CR-0801571-2002 CP-51-CR-0801581-2002

BEFORE: PANELLA, LAZARUS, and FITZGERALD,* JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY FITZGERALD, J.: FILED MAY 18, 2017

Appellant, John McClintic, appeals from his judgment of sentence of

forty-five to ninety years’ imprisonment arising from two separate home

invasions against the same elderly victim within an eight-day span.

Appellant argues, inter alia, that the trial court (1) erred in sentencing him

as a “third-strike” offender because he had not previously been sentenced as

a “second-strike” offender under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714, (2) erred in construing

his silence at sentencing as lack of remorse, (3) abused its discretion in

sentencing him outside of the Sentencing Guidelines, and (4) abused its

discretion in imposing consecutive sentences. We affirm.

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J-A27032-16

This case has a lengthy and tortuous history. At approximately 2:00

a.m. on June 27, 2002, Appellant broke into a house in Philadelphia where

Sarah K., an eighty-five-year-old woman who lived alone, had resided for

approximately sixty years. When Appellant entered Ms. K.’s bedroom, she

awoke and immediately recognized Appellant, who lived two doors away.

Appellant stood over six feet, weighed 250 pounds, and was bare-chested

and covered with tattoos. Ms. K. was five feet, two inches tall.

Appellant sat down next to Ms. K. on her bed and said: “Give me your

money. I won’t hurt you but I have a gun.” N.T., 1/22/03, at 68. Ms. K.

was “shaking like a leaf” and feared she would suffer a heart attack, but she

managed to show him a wallet on her night table that contained $125.00.

Appellant demanded more money. Id. at 69. She told him the only thing

she had left was a little purse with a few dollars in change for bingo. He

took that as well. He then grabbed her right breast and pinched it “with all

his strength”—so hard that Ms. K could not scream because she lost her

voice. Id. at 71.

After Appellant left, Ms. K. discovered that a board securing one of her

windows had been removed, and that her telephone line had been cut. She

had the telephone company repair the line but did not report the crime.

Eight days later, on July 5, 2002, Appellant again broke into Ms. K.’s

home in the early morning hours and entered her bedroom. He repeated

that he had a gun and forced Ms. K. to hand over the only money she had

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left in the house, a bag containing some dimes and two bracelets. He then

“cracked” her right thigh “real[ly] hard” and ordered her to get back into

bed. Id. at 84. After Appellant left, Ms. K. tried to call the police, but the

telephone line had been cut again. In addition, a door and two windows had

been forced open. Ms. K. eventually contacted the police, who arrested

Appellant. Ms. K. became obsessively concerned with her safety, was no

longer able to live independently and had to move into an assisted living

arrangement facility.

In January 2003, a jury found Appellant guilty of committing robbery

and burglary on both June 27, 2002 and July 5, 2002. At the time, he had

an extensive criminal record that included two prior “strikes” for purposes of

sentencing as a recidivist offender: a 1987 sentence for aggravated assault

and a 1997 sentence for robbery.

At sentencing on March 25, 2003, defense counsel agreed that

Appellant was subject to a third strike mandatory minimum sentence but

requested that he receive only one sentence of twenty-five to fifty years’

imprisonment. The trial court imposed four separate third strike sentences—

one each for the June 27, 2002 robbery and burglary and one each for the

July 5, 2002 robbery and burglary. This Court affirmed the judgment of

sentence, but our Supreme Court reversed. See Commonwealth v.

McClintic, 909 A.2d 1241 (Pa. 2006) (“McClintic I”). The Supreme Court

found that “Appellant had two prior convictions for crimes of violence and

-3- J-A27032-16

thus qualified as a ‘three strikes offender’” but determined that “the

legislature intended to apply sentencing enhancements for all crimes arising

from a criminal transaction, rather than for each individual crime within the

transaction.” Id. at 1243, 1251. The Court “remanded to the trial court for

re-sentencing consistent with this opinion.” Id. at 1252.

On January 23, 2007, Appellant appeared for resentencing. The trial

court imposed one third strike sentence for the June 27, 2002 episode and a

second third strike sentence for the July 5, 2002 episode. Appellant filed

post-sentence motions, and the court agreed to vacate the judgments of

sentence and schedule further proceedings.

In April 2007, the trial court held a third sentencing hearing. Appellant

claimed, for the first time, that he was not a third strike offender because he

had never been sentenced as a second strike offender. The trial court

rejected this argument and re-imposed the January 23, 2007 sentence.

“[A]ny deviation from the [Sentencing G]uidelines,” the court explained, was

attributable to the “gravity of the offense,” including “the fact that [Ms. K.’]s

a senior citizen, a very tiny lady compared to [Appellant’s] very tall height

and weight . . .” N.T., Sentencing Hr’g, 1/23/07, at 38.

Appellant appealed, claiming that he was not subject to a third strike

penalty. This Court held that Appellant waived this objection, and that his

status as a third strike offender was the law of the case. Commonwealth

v. McClintic, No. 1249 EDA 2007 (unpublished memorandum) (Pa. Super.

-4- J-A27032-16

Sept. 19, 2008) (“McClintic II”). We concluded, however, that Appellant

could receive no more than a single third strike sentence for both home

invasions and remanded for resentencing on that basis.

On August 12, 2009, Appellant appeared before the trial court for his

fourth sentencing hearing. Appellant answered several factual questions

relating to his age, his prison employment and the date of a particular prison

disciplinary infraction. N.T., Sentencing Hr’g, 8/12/09, at 13, 14, 26, 27,

32. The following exchange also took place:

The Court: Do you have anything you want to say, Mr. McClintic?

[Appellant]: No, ma’am.

The Court: Okay. If you change your mind, you may address me. Okay?

[Appellant]: Yes, ma’am.

Id. at 14.

The Commonwealth incorporated by reference all arguments, evidence

and exhibits presented during Appellant’s prior sentencing hearings in 2003

and 2007. Id. at 14-15. Further, the Commonwealth introduced evidence

that Appellant had committed three disciplinary infractions in 2007 and

2008: one for loaning or borrowing property in violation of prison rules, a

second for using obscene language and refusing to obey staff orders, and a

third for self-mutilation and possession of contraband and money. Id. at

15-17.

-5- J-A27032-16

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