Com. v. Shaffer, B.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided September 1, 2022·No. 15 WDA 2022·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

BRIAN ALLAN SHAFFER :

:

Appellant : No. 15 WDA 2022

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered October 12, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County Criminal Division at No(s):

CP-10-CR-0001247-2017

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., DUBOW, J., and KING, J. MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 Appellant, Brian Allan Schaffer, appeals from the October 12, 2021 Judgment of Sentence entered in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas following his jury conviction of Recklessly Endangering Another Person (“REAP”) and Simple Assault by Physical Menace.1 The relevant facts and procedural history are as follows. In the morning of May 27, 2017, Kevin McMaster, a recovery agent employed by A and L Recovery, went to Appellant’s home in a remote area of Middlesex County to repossess Appellant’s Chevy Silverado pickup truck. Mr. McMaster was wearing a t-shirt displaying the text “Recovery Agent” on the front and back and his tow truck was clearly marked “A and L Recovery” on both the

passenger and driver sides.

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2705 and 2701(a)(3), respectively.

Mr. McMaster located the pickup truck parked in Appellant’s driveway.

As Mr. McMaster was preparing to complete the final step in the process of securing Appellant’s truck to Mr. McMaster’s tow truck, Appellant, wearing only his underwear and armed with a shotgun, exited his home with the shotgun pointed at Mr. McMaster. While Appellant continued to point his shotgun at Mr. McMaster, Mr. McMaster identified himself and informed Appellant that he was on the premises to execute a repossession order for Appellant’s truck. Appellant began to make threats and aggressive statements toward Mr. McMaster. Appellant then climbed into the truck’s cab, started the engine, and tried to disengage his truck from the tow truck causing the front end of the tow truck to lift off the ground. Throughout the entirety of their interaction, Appellant and Mr. McMaster were approximately ten feet from each other and, although Mr. McMaster requested that Appellant lower his shotgun, Appellant kept it pointed directly at Mr. McMaster at all times prior to entering the truck. Eventually, Appellant was successful in breaking the truck loose from the tow truck and he drove off into the woods and did not immediately return.

Mr. McMaster called 911 immediately and Middlesex Township Police Officer Brian Costanzo and Sergeant Ruediger2 arrived shortly thereafter. The officers took photos of the damage to Mr. McMaster’s truck and took his statement. Following his return to the police station, Officer Costanzo called

2 Sergeant Ruediger’s first name does not appear in the trial court record.

Appellant and requested that Appellant come to the station to discuss the incident. Appellant arrived at the station and provided Officer Costanzo with two different written accounts of what had transpired, as well as a verbal explanation.3 Police ultimately recovered Appellant’s shotgun and secured it with a gun lock.

The Commonwealth charged Appellant with REAP, Simple Assault, Terroristic Threats, and Harassment. Appellant proceeded to a jury trial at which the Commonwealth presented the testimony of Mr. McMaster and Officer Costanzo, who testified to the above facts. Mr. McMaster also testified that Appellant’s actions caused Mr. McMaster to be in fear for his life. He further testified that he has never owned a gun and did not threaten Appellant at any time. He conceded that he could not remember the exact words Appellant used to threaten him, that Appellant did not rack4 the gun in his presence, and that he did not know whether the shotgun was loaded. He testified that, during their interaction, Appellant never reentered his home to dress and put his shotgun away, as Appellant had claimed.

Appellant testified on his own behalf and offered the testimony of his

daughter, Cassidy Shaffer. Appellant testified that, on the morning of the

3 The first written statement contradicted much of the report Mr. McMaster had given police. After the officers informed Appellant that it was possible his interaction with Mr. McMaster had been recorded by a camera on one of the vehicles involved, Appellant provided a second written statement.

4“Racking” refers to the process by which a shotgun user advances a cartridge case from the gun’s magazine into the breach of the gun to allow him to fire a shot.

incident, the sound of Mr. McMaster’s truck traversing his gravel driveway roused him from bed. He testified that the noise startled him because he was not expecting visitors and he believed that someone was trespassing on his property to steal his truck. Appellant testified that he never pointed his shotgun at or threatened Mr. McMaster. He testified that, instead, he rested the shotgun on the toolbox of his truck while the two men discussed Mr. McMaster’s reason for being at Appellant’s home. Appellant testified that he had other guns in his truck that he wanted to remove before Mr. McMaster towed it, but that Mr. McMaster issued a veiled threat to him. In particular, Appellant testified that he “decided that I couldn’t touch the guns in the truck . . . there’s no way I could come out with an armload of guns when [Mr.] McMaster just said ‘you want to see a gun, I’ll show you a gun.’” 5 Appellant testified that this veiled threat caused him to be fearful, to remove his truck from the tow truck, and flee. Appellant also testified that, at some point during the encounter, he went back inside his house, dressed, and returned outside without his shotgun.

Ms. Shaffer testified at the time of the incident she was 15 or 16 years old. She testified that on the morning in question, she was awoken by the sound of Appellant yelling at a truck coming down the driveway. She observed from her window that Appellant was upset. She testified that she saw Appellant exit their home with his shotgun. She also testified that, because

5 N.T. Trial, 8/18/21, at 99.

her window was closed, she could not really hear what was going on. Ms. Shaffer confirmed that Appellant entered his truck, forcefully disengaged it from the tow truck, and drove away. She described the act of removing the tow truck as “aggressive.”6 She testified that, after he drove away, Appellant called her on the telephone to warn her not to go outside because Mr. McMaster might be dangerous. Ms. Shaffer testified that she never saw Appellant point his shotgun at anyone.

Also relevant to the instant appeal, during its opening statement, the Commonwealth informed the jury that Appellant had not been making payments on his truck, and that Mr. McMaster was at Appellant’s home to repossess it. The Commonwealth explained that, after Mr. McMaster had secured the repossessed pickup truck to his tow truck, Appellant had forcibly removed it from the tow truck, breaking the cables or straps that held the truck in place. Following the opening statement, Appellant moved for a mistrial, asserting that the Commonwealth had improperly referred to uncharged conduct. In response, the Commonwealth stated that “the facts of this case are what they are” indicated that it would be “completely hamstrung” if the court forced it to “try this case in a vacuum” without reference to the context in which the incident arose.7 The trial court denied the motion

6 Id. at 90 7 Id. at 24.

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