Com. v. Redmond, L

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 7, 2024
Docket644 WDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Redmond, L (Com. v. Redmond, L) 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. Redmond, L, (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S05038-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : LARRY LEE REDMOND : : Appellant : No. 644 WDA 2023

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered May 9, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-65-CR-0003618-2016

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., KING, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED: March 7, 2024

Appellant, Larry Lee Redmond, was convicted of five crimes arising out

of two incidents of sexual abuse inflicted upon a-thirteen-year-old girl.1

Appellant appeals from the order denying his petition seeking collateral relief

under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), which presented challenges to

his trial counsel’s stewardship and a sentencing claim concerning his sexual

offender registration obligations. We affirm.

Our decision on direct appeal affirming Appellant’s judgment of sentence

summarized the facts, as follows:

On two occasions in the early months of 2015, Appellant sexually abused the victim. During the first incident, which occurred just after the victim’s thirteenth birthday, Appellant performed oral sex ____________________________________________

1 Count one – involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123(a)(7);

counts two and three – aggravated indecent assault, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3125(a)(8); count four – endangering welfare of children, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4304(a)(1); and count five – corruption of minors, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301(a)(1)(ii). J-S05038-24

on the victim. In addition, Appellant touched and digitally penetrated her vagina. On the second occasion, Appellant again touched and digitally penetrated the victim’s vagina. Subsequently, an expert who examined the victim found evidence of vaginal penetration.

Commonwealth v. Redmond, No. 1476 WDA 2019, unpublished

memorandum at 2 (Pa. Super. filed Aug. 20, 2020).

At Appellant’s preliminary hearing, the Commonwealth called as its sole

witness the lead detective, who related as hearsay the details supplied by the

victim. Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, 3/22/18, at 2, ¶ 5. The charges

were held for court and the Commonwealth filed a criminal information

consistent with his testimony. Criminal Information, 9/8/16, at unnumbered

1 (stating “[t]he District Attorney … charges that from diverse dates occurring

between September 2015 through February 2016…”) (emphasis omitted).

On March 9, 2018, the Commonwealth filed a motion to amend the

criminal information in advance of the trial, which was set for March 12. The

filing averred that during a preparatory session with the victim, she reviewed

some photographs, which “assisted the Commonwealth in determining that

she was allegedly victimized on diverse dates on or about between [sic]

February 2015 through Spring 2015.” Motion, 3/9/18, at 2. The

Commonwealth noted that the “alleged conduct remains the same, the

location of abuses remains the same, and the victim was still thirteen years

old.” Id. The Commonwealth thus sought permission to amend the

information. On March 12, 2018, the trial court granted the motion as well as

a postponement at Appellant’s request.

-2- J-S05038-24

Appellant thereafter sought a remand to the magisterial district court

for a new preliminary hearing. Appellant’s filing explained that he had

requested the postponement “to explore potential defenses due to the

changed period of dates of alleged criminal activity.” Petition, 3/15/18, at 2

(unnumbered). Appellant argued that he was not “afforded a preliminary

hearing regarding the newly amended dates of alleged criminal activity” and

that he was entitled to one because it “is a vital step in the judicial process….”

Id. The trial court immediately denied that petition.

On March 22, 2018, Appellant filed a Petition for Habeas Corpus, arguing

that the amendment of dates required a new preliminary hearing. The trial

court denied the motion on April 4, 2018. Appellant filed a motion to

reconsider on April 19, 2018, arguing that the “alteration of the dates alleged

indicates that these may be entirely different crimes being charged.” Motion

for Reconsideration, 4/19/18, at 2 ¶ 6 (unnumbered). The court denied the

petition that same day.

Appellant filed a notice of appeal on May 21, 2018, seeking permission

to appeal the interlocutory order. That notice of appeal was timely only with

respect to the order denying reconsideration.2 We quashed the appeal as

untimely because the trial court did not expressly grant reconsideration within

thirty days of the April 4, 2018 order. See Commonwealth v. Redmond,

No. 765 WDA 2018, unpublished judgment order at 1 (Pa. Super. filed April

____________________________________________

2 The thirtieth day was May 19, 2018, which was a Saturday.

-3- J-S05038-24

15, 2019) (“Rule [of Appellate Procedure] 1701 is very clear: the thirty-day

appeal period is tolled only by a timely order ‘expressly granting’

reconsideration.”) (emphasis in original). Appellant’s failure to timely appeal

the order deprived the Court of jurisdiction. Id. at 2.

Appellant ultimately proceeded to a jury trial and was convicted of all

charges. He was sentenced to 8 to 20 years’ imprisonment. On direct appeal,

Appellant raised three claims: a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence;

a challenge to the weight of the evidence; and a claim that the court erred “in

denying all of Appellant’s pre-trial Motions and his post-trial Motion for a new

trial based on newly[-]discovered evidence….” Redmond, 1476 WDA 2019,

unpublished memorandum at 3 (quoting brief). As relevant to the present

appeal, we determined that Appellant failed to preserve any challenge to the

weight of the evidence. Id. at 6 (“[W]e deem his challenge to the weight of

the evidence waived.”). After review, this Court affirmed his judgment of

sentence, and Appellant did not seek further review with our Supreme Court.

Appellant thereafter filed a timely, pro se petition for PCRA relief.

Appointed counsel filed an amended petition raising various claims of

ineffective assistance of counsel. The PCRA court held an evidentiary hearing,

where Attorney Michael Garofalo, who represented Appellant at trial and on

direct appeal, and Appellant both testified. The PCRA court denied the petition

and Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal and complied with the court’s

-4- J-S05038-24

order to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement. The PCRA court filed an opinion3

and Appellant submits the following claims for our review:

1. Whether the trial court incorrectly denied Appellant’s entitlement to [p]ost[-][c]onviction [r]elief based upon the claim that Appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to preserve the weight of the evidence argument on direct appeal[.]

2. Whether the trial court incorrectly denied Appellant’s entitlement to [p]ost[-][c]onviction [r]elief based upon the claim that Appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to timely file interlocutory appeals[.]

3. Whether the trial court incorrectly denied Appellant’s entitlement to [p]ost[-][c]onviction [r]elief based upon the claim that Appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to timely request discretionary review from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania[.]

4.

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