Com. v. McGrew, W.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 20, 2018
Docket12 MDA 2017
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. McGrew, W. (Com. v. McGrew, W.) 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. McGrew, W., (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

J-S48008-17

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : WILLIAM D. MCGREW : : Appellant : No. 12 MDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence November 29, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-67-CR-0007243-2015

BEFORE: OTT, J., STABILE, J., and PLATT, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY OTT, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 20, 2018

William D. McGrew appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on

November 29, 2016, in the York County Court of Common Pleas. On

September 13, 2016, a jury convicted McGrew of robbery, theft by unlawful

taking, and receiving stolen property (“RSP”).1 The court sentenced McGrew

to an aggregate term of six and one-half to 13 years’ incarceration. On appeal,

McGrew raises sufficiency of evidence, admissibility of certain evidence, and

legality of sentence claims. After a thorough review of the submissions by the

parties, the certified record, and relevant law, we affirm McGrew’s convictions.

However, as indicated and acknowledged by the trial court, it imposed an

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701(a)(1)(ii), 3921(a), and 3925(a), respectively. J-S48008-17

illegal sentence as to the theft crime, and therefore, we vacate the judgment

of sentence on the theft by unlawful taking conviction.

The facts and procedural history are as follows: Niraj and Mina Ramani2

(“Husband” and “Wife”, respectively), co-owners of King Tobacco Express at

49 Market Street, York City, Pennsylvania, were working at their store on

January 13, 2016, when a male individual rushed in, wearing a blue hooded

jacket/sweatshirt,3 a hat, and a mask covering his face.4 N.T., 9/12/2016 –

9/13/2016, at 67, 72, 75.

The perpetrator, subsequently identified as McGrew, shouted at Wife to

give him the money, while he had a knife with a 4-to-5 inch blade5 in his hand.

Id. at 68, 88. McGrew then pointed the knife towards Husband several times.

Id. at 68, 76. Husband opened the register and McGrew put his hand inside,

2 At McGrew’s trial, both Husband and Wife testified via an interpreter because they have difficulty with the English language. See N.T., 9/12/2016 – 9/13/2016, at 66, 70, 74. Police Officer Michael Davis indicated that because of the language barrier, he had some difficulty understanding the victims. Id. at 163.

3 A store customer, Roy Stottlemeyer, also testified the perpetrator was wearing a blue-hooded sweatshirt. Id. at 98.

4 Wife and Husband both testified they could not see the face of the suspect at the time. Id. at 71, 81. Officer Davis indicated he may have misinterpreted, but thought Husband told him the perpetrator was a “light- skinned black male.” Id. at 164.

5 The knife was never recovered. Id. at 120.

-2- J-S48008-17

pulled out money, and then fled the scene.6 Id. at 69, 75. Husband followed

McGrew outside the store from Market Street to Beaver Street where there

was an alley, but then returned and called the police. Id. at 76-77.

After the police arrived, Husband accompanied them in the direction of

where McGrew fled and the officers found a discarded baby-blue sweatshirt

and Baltimore Orioles baseball hat on the ground. Id. at 80. Husband told

Officer Davis the robber wore the discarded items. Id. at 175. A video from

a nearby store’s surveillance camera was played at trial that depicted a man

wearing a baby blue sweatshirt walking on the same side of Market Street as

the convenience store around the time the crime took place. Id. at 105.

Husband mentioned to police “[t]here was another incident which

happened a few days before, three or four days before this incident, that a

person came to the store, and he tried to run various credit cards on the

machine to purchase something[.]”7 Id. at 81. Husband believed “it might

be the same person[.]” Id. He provided police with credit card transaction

history information,8 and also gave them a blue Aldi grocery plastic bag that

was carried by the suspect to police. Id. at 87, 120.

6 It was stipulated at trial that $1,350.00 was taken from the convenience store’s register. Id. at 230.

7 Husband also noted, “It appeared that the card carried a woman’s name.” Id. at 83.

8 Husband actually provided the officers with credit card information from November of 2015, and not January of 2016. Id. at 115-116.

-3- J-S48008-17

Detective Paul DeHart traced the credit card information to a woman

named Marilyn Doll, who was living in Maryland. Id. at 107-108. In

attempting to contact her, Detective DeHart spoke with Glenn Doll, Marilyn’s

son, who told the detective “that his mother is elderly and he does have a

sister by the name of Laura Strausbaugh who lives in York.” Id. at 108.

Detective DeHart then contacted Strausbaugh and “she stated that she did

have a boyfriend in the York area, and she gave the name William McGrew,

the same date of birth as Mr. McGrew.” Id. at 108-109. Detective DeHart

learned McGrew used the same address as Strausbaugh, 300 Roosevelt

Avenue. Id. at 109. Detective DeHart indicated the perpetrator fled in the

direction of 300 Roosevelt Avenue. Id. at 112-113. The detective also “had

previous knowledge that Mr. McGrew was from the Baltimore, Maryland, area,

and being that the hat [found at the scene] was a Baltimore hat for a sports

team, when I went to speak to [McGrew] in his apartment, he was also

wearing a Baltimore sports T-shirt.” Id. at 112. The detective made contact

with McGrew at the 300 Roosevelt Avenue residence and requested an

updated DNA sample. Id. at 111. McGrew complied with the request at

subsequent date. Id.

Jillian M. Crouch, a DNA forensic science expert with the Pennsylvania

State Police, testified to the DNA results from McGrew’s sample, the

sweatshirt, and the Orioles hat. She indicated there was a “full DNA profile”

from McGrew on the sweatshirt and hat. Id. at 150-151. She also testified

-4- J-S48008-17

other people’s DNA was present was on the items but McGrew’s was the only

“full profile.” Id. at 152.9 Crouch explained the significance:

The fact that th[e] profile is found as the major means that that person potentially wore that article of clothing more than the other two or other DNA profiles that were found or that person either, you know, was perspiring more than someone else or they were shedding more skin cells than someone else.

If someone were wearing that item, you would expect to get a full profile, if they were wearing it for an extended period of time. If you’re just putting it on for a second, you’re not going to be depositing that much DNA on that piece of clothing.

Id. at 157, 159.

McGrew testified that he lived at 300 Roosevelt Avenue with his fiancée,

Strausbaugh. Id. at 184. He indicated he has a prior criminal record,

including multiple theft convictions. Id. at 185-186. He stated he had a

prescription drug problem and at the end of November of 2015, he decided to

enter a rehabilitation facility until January of 2016. Id. at 188. McGrew

testified he would let various people live in the home he shared with

Strausbaugh for a certain fee.10 Id. at 189-190. When asked about the

clothing found by police, McGrew stated they were both his, but the last time

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Commonwealth v. Sneed
526 A.2d 749 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Gallagher
547 A.2d 355 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Baker
963 A.2d 495 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Commonwealth v. Rega
933 A.2d 997 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Widmer
744 A.2d 745 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Johnson
42 A.3d 1017 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Commonwealth v. Melvin
103 A.3d 1 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Christine, J., Aplt.
125 A.3d 394 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)
Commonwealth v. Hicks, C., Aplt.
156 A.3d 1114 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Cruz
71 A.3d 998 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. McGrew, W., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-mcgrew-w-pasuperct-2018.