Com. v. Patterson, B.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided November 14, 2023·No. 1881 EDA 2022·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT OP 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

BRANDON PATTERSON :

:

Appellant : No. 1881 EDA 2022

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 24, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0000123-2018

BEFORE: NICHOLS, J., MURRAY, J., and McCAFFERY, J. MEMORANDUM BY McCAFFERY, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 14, 2023 Brandon Patterson (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas following the revocation of his probation pursuant to a 2018 negotiated guilty plea to one count each of robbery and conspiracy.1 On appeal, Appellant contends the trial court abused its discretion when it sentenced him to a term of five to 15 years’ incarceration without considering his rehabilitative needs. After review, we affirm.

We glean the underlying facts of Appellant’s 2018 guilty plea from the trial court opinion:

[O]n October 10, 2017, [Appellant was arrested] on charges of kidnapping, robbery and related offenses, arising from conduct occurring on September 14, 2017. [It was alleged that Appellant,

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3701(a)(1)(ii), 903(c).

“in the course of committing a theft, . . . in concert with another person, threatened or intentionally put another in fear of serious injury by approaching the complainant, [ ] and threatening to shoot him while taking his wallet/debit card and attempting to withdraw money from the [complainant’s] bank account and also forcing the complainant to travel a substantial distance into a nearby store and to sell his phone to a kiosk so the defendant could take the proceeds without permission.”]

On November 30, 2018, Appellant entered a negotiated guilty plea on charges of robbery, as a felony of the first degree and conspiracy to commit robbery also as a felony of the first degree[.] Appellant was sentenced to [concurrent terms of] one to three years incarceration on each conviction, followed by two years of probation on each conviction. [T]he probationary periods were consecutive to the sentences of incarceration, but concurrent to each other. [The court also imposed the following conditions to be completed during Appellant’s incarceration: participation in educational programming, vocational training, life-skills training, and anger management. See Order — Negotiated Guilty Plea, 11/30/18.]

Trial Ct. Op., 11/17/22, at 1-2, 1 n.1.

While on probation, Appellant was charged with robbery for an incident that occurred on March 29, 2021, where three persons stole two video game consoles after arranging a meeting with the seller to purchase them. Trial Ct. Op. at 2; see N.T. VOP h’rg Vol 1, 6/24/22, 14, 16-18. Appellant was subsequently charged with robbery, conspiracy, and violations under the Uniform Firearms Act related to the March 29th incident. Trial Ct. Op. at 2.

Following a preliminary hearing, the charges were held for court and an information was issued at Criminal Docket CP-51-CR-0000123-2018. On November 15, 2021, the Commonwealth nolle prossed the charges arising from the March 29th incident. Trial Ct. Op. at 2. The trial court denied the Commonwealth’s request to lift the nolle pros. Id.

On May 27 and June 24, 2022, the trial court held a bifurcated violation of probation (VOP) evidentiary hearing regarding the March 29, 2021, robbery. See N.T. VOP h’rg Vol. 1, 5/27/22, at 11. Over the course of the hearings, the Commonwealth presented Mahanad Nasralla (Victim), who stated he listed two PlayStation 5 consoles for sale on an app called “OfferUp.” N.T., 6/24/22, at 7. After speaking with a potential buyer through the app and text messages, Victim drove to an address given to him by the buyer to complete the sale. Id. at 10-11, 14. When Victim arrived, he “was approached by two men from the back[,]” and he showed them the game consoles he was selling. Id. at 14. A third male, later identified as Appellant, approached Victim, lifted his hoodie, revealing a firearm, and said “Are you lost? Get the fuck off my block.” Id. at 14, 16. Appellant’s two cohorts then took the PlayStation 5 consoles and all three men “ran in the opposite direction[.]” Id. at 17-18, 27. Victim drove off and called the police. Id. at 18-19. At the June 24th hearing, Victim identified Appellant as the assailant who threatened him with a firearm. Id. at 7.

The Commonwealth also presented Appellant’s probation officer, Tanelle Griffin, who testified that she recommended Appellant “be supervised under the Intensive Case Load Unit when he is released” with a GPS monitor. N.T., 5/27/22, at 11-12. Officer Griffin noted Appellant had issues maintaining employment and housing in the past and requested that before his release he have a “viable home plan.” Id. at 12. The Commonwealth also offered Officer

Griffin’s “report”2 into evidence. Id. at 5-6. The trial court declined to release Appellant due to his “history while under supervision[.]” See id. at 12.

Appellant invoked his right to allocution at both hearings. At the May 27, 2022, hearing, he read a letter to the trial court where he asked the court to see him as an “individual[ and] a human being . . . who . . . made some poor decisions in life,” but “is able to reflect and learn from [those] decisions[.]” N.T., 5/27/22, at 18. He also stated he had “taken the time to do some cognitive restructuring” and has taken a “new direction in life[.]” Id. at 18-19. The trial court then responded that it did “consider [Appellant] human[.]” Id. at 19. At the June 24th hearing, Appellant asserted his innocence, telling the court he was implicated in the crime due to “mistaken identity.” See N.T., 6/24/22, at 44. He then stated that he “used [the time he was in custody waiting for the VOP hearing] to get better” through “spirituality, mentally, dealing with things [him]self, [and] reading more self- help books.” Id. Appellant also noted that he had “a couple of jobs” before being arrested for this incident but was fired after his employer completed a background check. See id. at 44-45. Appellant’s mother also spoke on his behalf, saying Appellant “was trying to do better[ and] applied for a couple of

jobs.” Id. at 41.

2 The trial court, parties, and witness do not specify what kind of report the

officer provided to the court. Moreover, the document was not identified as an exhibit at the hearing. However, based on a review of the record and statements at the hearing, it appears the document was a “Pretrial Investigation Report.”

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