Com. v. Reed, A.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 22, 2017·No. Com. v. Reed, A. No. 1708 MDA 2016·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

ALPHONSO REED Appellant No. 1708 MDA 2016

Appeal from the PCRA Order September 27, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-38-CR-0001482-2011

BEFORE: BOWES, DUBOW, AND FITZGERALD,* JJ. MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED JUNE 22, 2017 Alphonso Reed appeals from the September 27, 2016 order denying his PCRA petition. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand this matter for resentencing.

The PCRA court ably set forth the following facts relevant to this appeal:

On or about June 2, 2011, Detectives Ryan Mong [“Det.

Mong”] and Adam Saul [“Det. Saul”] were conducting surveillance of an alleged drug sale between an unknown individual and an undercover officer, Sergeant Brett Hopkins [“Sgt. Hopkins”]. A confidential informant arranged for the undercover officer to meet an individual identified as Charles Holloway [“Holloway”]. After meeting Sgt. Hopkins, Holloway made a phone call and a short time later an unidentified individual came onto the scene. Det. Mong described him as an older man with a graying beard. This individual handed an item to Holloway who then turned and immediately handed a bag of crack cocaine to the undercover officer. After the transaction

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

was complete, the [detectives] followed the individual on foot until they lost sight of him. That individual remained unknown and was identified in Lebanon County Detective Bureau Department Case Report 11-131-1 as merely “Juan Doe.”

On or about August 19, 2011, at approximately 7:30 p.m., [Appellant] was walking along the 800 block of Chestnut Street, Lebanon, when Det.’s Mong and Saul drove by in an unmarked vehicle. Det. Mong recognized [Appellant] as the “Juan Doe”

with the graying beard from the June 2, 2011 incident. Det.

Mong and [Det.] Saul approached [Appellant] in order to determine his name. The Detectives had their badges in plain view and Det. Mong identified himself to [Appellant]. Det. Mong testified that he did not intend to arrest [Appellant] at that time.

Det. Saul stood slightly behind Det. Mong during the interaction with [Appellant], close enough to hear the conversation and to assist Det. Mong if needed. Det. Mong asked [Appellant] for some identification. [Appellant] handed a Pennsylvania Identification Card to Det. Mong, who radioed the information to dispatch to determine if there were any outstanding warrants for [Appellant]. Det. Mong told [Appellant] that they had stopped him because they recognized him as a person who had sold drugs to an undercover officer. Det. Mong returned [Appellant’s]

identification. Dispatch notified Det. Mong that there were no outstanding warrants for [Appellant]. Det. Mong testified that he could not recall if he had returned [Appellant’s] identification before stating that [Appellant] was stopped because of the sale of drugs.

Det. Mong asked [Appellant] if he had any drugs or weapons on his person. [Appellant] replied in the negative.

Det. Mong then asked [Appellant] if he would consent to a search of his person. [Appellant] replied in the affirmative. This search produced thirteen (13) bags of crack cocaine, two cell phones, and money. After the search, [Appellant] was arrested and read his Miranda warnings. [Appellant] was charged as a result of the items found on him on August 19, 2011[,] as well as the sale of drugs to an undercover officer on June 2, 2011.

PCRA Court Opinion, 12/21/16, at 2-4.

Appellant filed an omnibus pre-trial motion seeking the suppression of the evidence recovered during the August 19, 2011 seizure and search, and dismissal of the charges arising therefrom, contending that the detectives illegally stopped him on the street. Following a hearing on the matter, the court granted Appellant’s motion to suppress, finding that Appellant’s consent was not voluntarily given. The court suppressed the evidence obtained as a result of the search of Appellant’s person, and the charges arising from that incident were ultimately dismissed. After a bench trial, Appellant was found guilty of the charges stemming from his participation in the June 2, 2011 drug transaction with Sergeant Hopkins.

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court challenging the sufficiency of the Commonwealth’s evidence and arguing that the Court improperly weighed the evidence in the Commonwealth’s favor. We affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence, finding that his challenge to the weight of the evidence was waived since he failed to raise the issue before the trial court, and that the Commonwealth had adduced sufficient evidence to support his convictions. Commonwealth v. Reed, 91 A.3d 1295 (Pa.Super. 2013) (unpublished memorandum).

On March 17, 2014, Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition. Counsel was appointed. Appointed counsel then filed a series of amended PCRA petitions raising numerous challenges to the effectiveness of trial counsel, including allegations that trial counsel failed to preserve Appellant’s

challenge to the weight of the evidence and failed to file an appeal with regards to his pre-trial motion. The PCRA court granted Appellant partial relief, reinstated his right to file a post-sentence motion and direct appeal, but limited Appellant’s post-sentence claims to his challenge to the weight of the evidence and any issue stemming from his pre-trial motion. The court denied Appellant’s subsequent post-sentence motion, and Appellant appealed to this Court. This Court reversed the PCRA court’s ruling. We found that the court erred in reinstating Appellant’s post-sentence motion and direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc, and remanded the case to the PCRA court directing it to consider Appellant’s claims under the auspices of the PCRA. Commonwealth v. Reed, 151 A.3d 1135 (Pa.Super. 2016) (unpublished memorandum).

On remand, the PCRA court denied Appellant’s PCRA petition.

Appellant filed a timely appeal, and complied with the court’s order to file a Rule 1925(b) concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. The court filed its Rule 1925(a) opinion. This matter is now ready for our review.

Appellant presents five questions for our consideration:

1. Whether Trial Counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve Appellant’s challenge to the weight of the evidence on direct appeal?

2. Whether Trial Counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve Appellant’s challenge to the Court’s partial denial of Appellant’s Suppression Motion regarding the reasonable suspicions for the stop and the initial probable cause for the arrest of the Appellant on direct appeal?

3. Whether Trial Counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the Court’s imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence for Appellant’s delivery of a controlled substance conviction under Alleyne v. U.S.[, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013)]?

4. Whether Trial Counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the lab reports at trial?

5. Whether Trial Counsel was ineffective for failing to properly impeach Sergeant Hopkins regarding the race of the Appellant by not calling [Detective] Saul to testify?

Appellant’s brief at 4-5.

Our review of an order denying PCRA relief is limited to determining “whether the decision of the PCRA court is supported by the evidence of record and is free of legal error.” Commonwealth v. Melendez-Negron, 123 A.3d 1087, 1090 (Pa.Super. 2015). We will not overturn the PCRA court’s findings of fact “unless there is no support for [those] findings in the certified record.” Id.

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