Com. v. Parham, S.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 7, 2020
Docket66 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Parham, S. (Com. v. Parham, S.) 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. Parham, S., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S01039-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, : PENNSYLVANIA : Appellee : : v. : : SHAHID PARHAM, : : Appellant : No. 66 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 18, 2015 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0015369-2013

BEFORE: BOWES, J., KUNSELMAN, J. and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED APRIL 7, 2020

Shahid Parham (Appellant) appeals nunc pro tunc from the judgment

of sentence1 of 32 to 64 years of incarceration imposed after he was found

guilty in a non-jury trial of robbery, burglary, conspiracy, possession of an

instrument of crime (PIC), and several firearms offenses. We affirm.

The charges arose out of the September 10, 2013 armed robbery of

the victim, Dwayne Davis. During a struggle over Appellant’s gun, Davis

gained control of the weapon and fired at both Appellant and his co- ____________________________________________

1 We note that Appellant purported to appeal from the October 1, 2015 order, which granted a motion for continuance of a hearing on Appellant’s motion for reconsideration of sentence. “In a criminal action, appeal properly lies from the judgment of sentence made final by the denial of post- sentence motions.” Commonwealth v. Shamberger, 788 A.2d 408, 410 (Pa. Super. 2001) (citation omitted). We have corrected the caption accordingly.

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S01039-20

conspirator, Muhammad Munson, wounding Appellant and killing Munson.

The trial court provided the following factual background.

Davis testified that on the afternoon of September 10, 2013, he was inside his home on the 2600 block of Carroll Street in the city of Philadelphia, with his one[-]year[-]old daughter and her babysitter, Rakita Davis [Rakita].10 At approximately 10:00 that morning, Davis received a phone call from an individual who was interested in purchasing one of his watches. He told that individual to come to his house, go around back, and come in through the kitchen door. _____ 10 Rakita Davis and Dwayne Davis are not related.

At approximately 11:30 a.m.[,] there was a knock at the back door and Davis let Appellant and [] Munson, into the kitchen. On entering, Appellant walked towards the dining room while Munson stayed by the back door. Once inside, Appellant pulled out a silver revolver and pointed it at Davis, saying “you know what time it is old head?” [N.T. 4/9/2015, at 28, 63.] After an exchange of words, Munson punched Davis in the eye, knocking him to the ground. As he attempted to stand up, Appellant hit him in the head with the gun, saying “don’t move.” [Id. at 64.]

After another exchange of words, Appellant aimed the gun at Rakita[,] who was holding the baby. To “defend his family[,]” Davis pinned Appellant against the wall as Rakita ran upstairs, holding Davis’s baby. [Id.] Appellant, pinned against the wall by Davis, fired a shot through the wall. In response, Davis grabbed Appellant by the wrist and twisted his arm until the gun fell to the ground. Davis testified that he retrieved the gun from the ground while Appellant jumped on his back. Davis then fired two shots under his left arm. Davis fired an additional two shots towards the back door as Appellant and Munson fled out the back door. Davis testified that at that time he did not know where the shots went or if anyone had been hit.

After Appellant and Munson left, Davis went upstairs to check on Rakita and his daughter[,] who were hiding upstairs in a bedroom. Davis, Rakita, and the baby were driven by a friend to another friend’s house[,] where they waited for Davis’s wife. When his wife arrived, he told her to take their daughter to a

-2- J-S01039-20

hotel. Davis stayed at his friend’s house and later met up with his wife and daughter at the hotel. At no point did Davis return back to his house.

Davis testified that he did not immediately call the police because he had never been put in this type of situation and “was just scared.” [Id. at 70.] Davis received a phone call the day after the shooting from his friend, Philadelphia Police Officer Kaliv Ivy. During their conversation, Davis told Officer Ivy what happened at his house the day before and was made aware that “Homicide” was looking for him. Davis told Officer Ivy that he needed a day or so to calm down but would go to [the police station] with him the next day.

Officer Ivy testified that he found out about the shooting the day after [it occurred] when he arrived at work. He recognized the house where the shooting occurred as Davis’s [residence]. He called Davis to inform him that “Homicide” wanted to speak with him about what had happened since the body of Munson had been found in his backyard. Officer Ivy testified that Davis told him he was “shook up” and needed a day or so to calm down. [Id. at 71.] The following day[,] Officer Ivy accompanied Davis to [the police station] where he gave a statement about what happened at his home two days earlier. While giving his statement[,] Davis learned for the first time that a dead body had been found in his back yard.

Philadelphia Police Officer David Cartagena testified that on the afternoon of the robbery, he responded to a radio call of a shooting in the 2600 block of Massey Street in the city of Philadelphia.11 On arriving at the corner of Massey Street and Dicks Avenue[,] he observed Appellant lying on the sidewalk, on his right side,12 suffering a gunshot wound. On approaching Appellant, Officer Cartagena spoke with Appellant but found Appellant to be [] uncooperative. Appellant told Officer Cartagena he was shot in the back but would not tell him where it happened, who he was with, or anything about what had happened. At no time during this interaction[] did Appellant indicate to Officer Cartagena that there had been an altercation at Davis’s home or that someone else had been shot.

_____ 11 Massey Street is located parallel to Carroll Street where

Davis’s residence is located.

-3- J-S01039-20

12 This corner is approximately a block from Davis’s residence.

Trial Court Opinion, 4/16/2019, at 3-5 (some quotation marks and citations

to record omitted; some name designations and capitalization altered).

Based on the foregoing, Appellant was arrested and charged with

twelve offenses: one count each of aggravated assault, robbery, burglary,

conspiracy, attempted theft, PIC, simple assault, recklessly endangering

another person (REAP), and four firearms offenses. A non-jury trial took

place on April 9, 2015, where Davis, Rakita, and Officers Ivy and Cartagena

testified as indicated supra. The trial court found Appellant guilty of robbery,

burglary, conspiracy, PIC, firearms not to be carried without a license,

prohibited possession of a firearm, and possession of firearm by a minor.2

A sentencing hearing was held on June 18, 2015. After the court heard

testimony from a Philadelphia police officer, as well as Appellant’s mother

and father, acknowledged receipt of the pre-sentence investigation (PSI)

report, and heard argument from the parties’ counsel, it sentenced Appellant

to an aggregate term of incarceration of not less than 32 nor more than 64

years.3

____________________________________________

2 The trial court found Appellant not guilty of aggravated assault. The Commonwealth nolle prossed the remaining charges.

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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Parham, S., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-parham-s-pasuperct-2020.