Com. v. McDaniel, M.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 31, 2024
Docket275 MDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. McDaniel, M. (Com. v. McDaniel, M.) 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. McDaniel, M., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S33043-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : MARCUS D. MCDANIEL : : Appellant : No. 275 MDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered February 6, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0000925-2022

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : MARCUS DRAKE MCDANIEL : : Appellant : No. 276 MDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered February 6, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0001133-2022

BEFORE: OLSON, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and NICHOLS, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: DECEMBER 31, 2024

Appellant Marcus Drake McDaniel appeals from the judgments of

sentence imposed following his convictions for six counts each of rape of a

child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, three counts of

indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, two counts of unlawful

contact with a minor, and one count each of criminal solicitation of rape of a

child, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, and J-S33043-24

obstruction.1 On appeal, Appellant raises challenges to the trial court’s

evidentiary rulings and the discretionary aspects of his sentence. We affirm.

The factual history of this case is well known to both parties, and we

need not re-state it here. Briefly, Appellant was charged with multiple

offenses based on allegations that he sexually assaulted his girlfriend’s

daughter in 2022. The trial court set forth the following procedural history:

Following a jury trial in his absence, [Appellant] was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child; two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child; two counts of unlawful contact with a minor; one count of indecent assault (under 13 years of age); one count endangering [the] welfare of children; and one count of corruption of minors—sexual offenses at Lycoming County Docket Number CR-925-2022. Under Lycoming County Docket Number CR 1133-2022, Appellant was found guilty of four counts of rape of a child; four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child; one count of indecent assault (under 13 years of age); one count of criminal solicitation; and one count of obstruction in child abuse cases. The victim in both cases was the [six-year-old] daughter of Appellant’s paramour.

[On] February 6, 2024, [] Appellant was sentenced under CR-925- 2022 to a period of ten (10) to twenty (20) years [of] incarceration in a state correctional institution on Counts 1 and 2, rape of a child, to run consecutive to each other. On Counts 3-4, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, and Counts 5- 6, unlawful contact with a minor, the Appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration in a state correctional institution of ten (10) to twenty (20) years. Counts 3, 4, 5, and 6 are to run concurrent to each other, and concurrent to Counts 1 and 2. On Counts 7 and 8, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age; Count 9, endangering the welfare of children; and Count 10, corruption of minors, [] Appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration in a state correctional institution of eighteen (18) to thirty-six (36) months, to run concurrent to all other counts in ____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3121(c), 3123(b), 3126(a)(7), 6318(a)(1), 902(a), 4304(a)(1), 6301(a)(1)(ii), and 4958(b.1), respectively.

-2- J-S33043-24

case number CR-925-2022. Under CR-1133-2022, Appellant was sentenced to a period of ten (10) to twenty (20) years [of] incarceration in a state correctional institution on Counts 1-4, rape of a child, each to run consecutive to all other counts. On counts 5-8, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, [] Appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration in a state correctional institution of ten (10) to twenty (20) years, to run concurrent to all other counts. On Count 9, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, and Count 10, criminal solicitation of rape of a child, [] Appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration in a state correctional institution of ten (10) to twenty (20) years, to run concurrent to all other counts. Finally, on Count 11, obstruction, [] Appellant was sentenced to a period of incarceration in a state correctional institution of fifteen (15) to thirty (30) months, to run consecutive to all other counts. The aggregate sentence of Appellant was sixty-one (61) years and three (3) months to one hundred twenty-two (122) years and six (6) months incarceration in a state correctional institution. [] Appellant was also designated a sexually violent predator [(SVP)].

Trial Ct. Op., 5/7/24, at 1-3 (unpaginated).

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal and a court-ordered Pa.R.A.P.

1925(b) statement. The trial court subsequently filed an opinion addressing

Appellant’s claims.

Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

1. Whether the trial court erred by precluding relevant and exculpatory evidence that the victim named another individual and not [Appellant] as the perpetrator of abuse when she was initially interviewed.

2. Whether the trial court erred in permitting [Appellant’s] supervised bail officer to testify at trial because his testimony was unfairly prejudicial, irrelevant, and it improperly provided criminal propensity evidence to the jury.

3. Whether the sentencing court abused its discretion and imposed a manifestly excessive and unduly harsh sentence and did so without sufficiently considering the fundamental norms of the sentencing process.

-3- J-S33043-24

Appellant’s Brief at 7 (some formatting altered).

Evidentiary Issues

Appellant’s first two claims relate to the trial court’s evidentiary rulings.

First, Appellant contends that he was “deprived of a fair trial because the trial

court precluded from evidence the fact that the victim named another

individual and not [Appellant] as the perpetrator of her abuse.” Id. at 16.

Specifically, Appellant argues that because the evidence at issue is

exculpatory, the trial court abused its discretion when it excluded evidence

that the victim named her father as the perpetrator of abuse. Id. at 16-17.

Appellant further argues that the trial court, by precluding the evidence at

issue, engaged in a “manipulation of the facts and the manipulated facts were

presented to the jury rather than the actual facts,” thereby abusing its

discretion. Id. at 17-18.

Procedurally, we note that the evidentiary ruling at issue was the result

of a Commonwealth motion in limine seeking to preclude any testimony from

the victim concerning allegations against her father, D.T. See N.T. Trial,

10/25/23, at 30. On the record, the trial court made the following ruling:

At this point, I am granting the Commonwealth’s motion to preclude the testimony regarding accusations against [D.T.] that are outside of those that are against [Appellant] in this particular case. [Appellant] is permitted to cross-examine witnesses regarding the identity of the perpetrator for the allegations in this particular case. So the scope is whether if the allegations are what’s against [Appellant] are not, that hopefully sets out the line.

-4- J-S33043-24

Id. (emphasis added). In its brief, the Commonwealth notes that the trial

court provided Appellant with the opportunity to cross-examine the victim

regarding the identity of the perpetrator in the instant case and that Appellant

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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. McDaniel, M., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-mcdaniel-m-pasuperct-2024.