Com. v. O'Neal, F.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided September 22, 2022·No. 1318 WDA 2021·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

FREDERICK WARREN O'NEAL, JR. :

:

Appellant : No. 1318 WDA 2021

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered August 9, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-04-CR-0000287-2020

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., DUBOW, J., and KING, J. MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 Appellant, Frederick Warren O’Neal, Jr., appeals from the August 9, 2021 Judgment of Sentence of 19 to 50 years’ incarceration entered in the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas following his jury conviction of Aggravated Assault, Rape by Forcible Compulsion, Rape of an Unconscious or Unaware Person, Strangulation, Sexual Assault, Simple Assault, and False Imprisonment.1 Appellant challenges the sufficiency and weight of the evidence, the cumulative prejudice of purportedly erroneous evidentiary rulings, and his designation as a sexually violent predator. After careful review, we affirm.

The relevant facts as established at trial are as follows. Appellant and

the victim have been superficially acquainted for almost 20 years. On

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2702(a)(1), 3121(a)(1), 3121(a)(3), 2718(a)(1), 3124.1, 2701(a)(1), and 2903(a), respectively.

November 30, 2019, the victim finished her shift at McDonald’s in Beaver Falls at nearly 1:00 AM. She left McDonald’s, and walked to the Longhorn Saloon, a bar located across the street from her house. At the bar, she saw a former co-worker and Appellant, whom she had not planned to meet. The victim consumed two vodka cocktails during a 30-minute period, which did not make her feel intoxicated or impaired.

When the victim decided to leave the bar, Appellant told her that he would take her home. At first, the victim declined Appellant’s offer, but then she agreed after Appellant said that it would be unsafe for the victim to walk across the street alone because of sex trafficking. The victim waited for Appellant to get into his car, a black Dodge Charger with Michigan license plates and cracks in the windshield, and then she got into the front passenger seat of the car.2 Instead of driving the victim home, however, Appellant drove her to the United Methodist Church at Buttermilk Falls. When the victim asked Appellant why they were there, he replied “you’ll see.”3 The victim stepped out of the car, and Appellant approached her from behind and choked her. With his arm around her neck still choking her, the victim blacked out. When the victim regained consciousness, she was in the now-reclined passenger seat of the

car, with Appellant on top of her. Appellant choked the victim to the point of

2The victim later identified Appellant’s car as the same car photographed by police and searched as part of their investigation.

3 N.T. Trial, 3/16/21, at 55.

unconsciousness four times, removed her clothes and put his penis in her mouth. The victim bit Appellant’s penis, causing him to ejaculate. During the attack, Appellant told the victim that he had been previously charged with rape, but that the charges “didn’t stick.”4 He told the victim that all “drunk white bitches” are the same and that when they found her body, she was going to look like another “drunk white bitch.”5 Following the attack, Appellant drove the victim home. During the drive, the victim told Appellant she planned to report the attack to the police. Appellant then apologized and told the victim that he could not go back to jail. Once she returned home, the victim called 911. She then went to the hospital where she submitted to a sexual assault forensic examination.

When she initially reported this incident to the police, the victim indicated that Appellant had picked her up from McDonald’s. In a subsequent interview, the victim acknowledged that Appellant had, in fact, left with Appellant from the Longhorn Saloon. She explained that she misreported this fact because her mother disapproved of her drinking at the Longhorn Saloon. The victim also initially indicated that she had seen Appellant at McDonald’s earlier in the day, but that she had not interacted with him.

Prior to the commencement of Appellant’s trial, on February 10, 2021, the Commonwealth filed a notice of intent to introduce evidence pursuant to

4 Id. at 73-74. 5 Id. at 73.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 404(b) of Appellant’s statements to the victim in which Appellant claimed to have avoided responsibility for a prior sexual assault. On March 8, 2021, the trial court held a hearing and entered an order finding that the proffered evidence was relevant but deferring until trial its ruling on whether the unfair prejudice outweighed the relevancy of the evidence. At trial, the court determined that the evidence was admissible as its probative value outweighed its potential for unfair prejudice.

At trial, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of numerous witnesses, including the victim, who testified consistent with the above facts. Relevantly, the victim also explained the inconsistencies in her statement regarding where she had encountered Appellant on the night in question. In a further effort to impeach the victim’s credibility, Appellant’s counsel also cross-examined her with respect to whether she had seen or interacted with Appellant earlier in the day at McDonald’s.

In addition to witness testimony, the Commonwealth played for the jury the recorded statement Appellant made to police. By way of background, prior to trial, the Commonwealth and Appellant had agreed that the Commonwealth would redact from his statement all references to Appellant’s probation status. Nevertheless, the statement heard by the jury included a reference to Appellant’s probation status. Accordingly, Appellant moved for a mistrial. The trial court held a hearing on the motion and the Commonwealth argued that the court could resolve this matter by issuing a curative

instruction. The trial court agreed, denied the motion for a mistrial, and, with the consent of Appellant, provided the jury with a curative instruction.

At the close of the Commonwealth’s case, Appellant made an oral motion for judgment of acquittal asserting generally that the Commonwealth had not presented enough evidence to submit the case to the jury. N.T. Trial 3/16/21, at 131-32. The trial court denied the motion.

Appellant testified on his own behalf. He conceded that he and the victim had had a sexual encounter, but claimed that it was consensual.

On March 19, 2021, the jury convicted Appellant of the above charges.6 With respect to the Strangulation charge, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant committed that offense in conjunction with sexual violence as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 62A03.

On March 22, 2021, the trial court entered an order directing the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board (“SOAB”) to assess Appellant to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator (“SVP”). The court also directed the preparation of a pre-sentence investigation report and scheduled a sentencing hearing. On June 28, 2021, the Commonwealth filed a praecipe for a hearing to determine Appellant’s SVP status.

On August 9, 2021, the court held a hearing to determine Appellant’s SVP status prior to sentencing him. The Commonwealth presented the testimony of Julia L. Lindemuth, a member of the of the SOAB, and submitted

6 The jury acquitted Appellant of Kidnapping.

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