Com. v. Stovall, D.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 13, 2018·No. 1170 WDA 2017·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA : PENNSYLVANIA :

:

v. :

:

:

DANIEL LEE STOVALL :

: No. 1170 WDA 2017

Appellant

Appeal from the PCRA Order July 14, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County Criminal Division at No(s):

CP-25-CR-0003162-2013

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and STEVENS*, P.J.E. MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED MARCH 13, 2018 Appellant Daniel Lee Stovall appeals from the Order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County on July 14, 2017, denying his petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA).1 We affirm.

A prior panel of this Court set forth the relevant facts and procedural history herein as follows:

On September 14, 2013, at 2:28 a.m., Patrolman Bruce E.

Kosko of the Erie Police Department responded to a report of an accident involving a vehicle crash into a house. When he arrived at the scene, he observed a Cadillac with damage to its rear resting against a house. Patrolman Kosko interviewed a witness who reported that he observed a dark-colored sedan driving in reverse at a high rate of speed strike the rear of the Cadillac. The Cadillac rolled for a distance and ran into the house; the sedan fled the scene. Patrolman Kosko also interviewed the owner of the Cadillac, who indicated that he did not park his vehicle in its present location and that there was no damage to it when he

1 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546.

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

parked it. Based on this information, at 2:45 a.m., Patrolman Kosko issued a radio dispatch report for police to be on the lookout for a dark-colored sedan, possibly with heavy rear-end damage.

Approximately one hour later, Lieutenant Mark Sanders observed Appellant’s vehicle, a silver sedan with heavy rear-end damage, traveling on a street located approximately seven blocks from the scene of the collision. He stopped Appellant’s vehicle and radioed for backup. Appellant exhibited signs of intoxication including slurred speech and an odor of alcohol; he could not stand on his own, and immediately failed a field sobriety test. Police arrested Appellant and called an ambulance for his front seat passenger, who was unresponsive and nearly unconscious.

Although Appellant initially consented to a blood draw, police deemed it unsafe to administer after he became belligerent at the hospital.

On February 4, 2014, Appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence, claiming that the stop of his vehicle was illegal. The court entered an opinion and order denying the motion on April 7, 2014, following a hearing.

On the morning of trial, June 9, 2015, Appellant’s appointed counsel of record filed a motion seeking pro hac vice admission of Robert F. DiCello, Esq., a member of the Ohio bar,1 to represent Appellant in this case.2 The trial court denied the motion and ordered Appellant’s counsel of record to represent him at trial.

However, it permitted Attorney DiCello to participate in Appellant’s defense in an advisory capacity.

Appellant proceeded to trial and the jury found him guilty of DUI on June 10, 2015. On July 20, 2015, with the benefit of a presentence investigation report (PSI),3 the trial court sentenced Appellant to a term of not less than fourteen nor more than twenty-eight months’ incarceration, a sentence in the standard range of the sentencing guidelines. The court denied Appellant’s timely post-sentence motion on July 30, 2015. This timely appeal followed.4

1 Appellant resides in Ohio. (See N.T. Suppression Hearing, 4/03/14, at 3).

2 See Pennsylvania Bar Admission Rule 301(b) (requiring, inter

alia, that motions for pro hac vice admission be filed at least three days prior to appearance before court).

3 The PSI revealed a previous DUI conviction in New York in 2006

and an operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI) conviction in Ohio in September 2012. (See Trial Court Opinion, 10/12/15, at 7; Appellant’s Brief, at 9).

4Pursuant to the trial court’s order, Appellant filed a timely concise statement of errors complained of on appeal on September 11, 2015. The court filed an opinion on October 12, 2015. See Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Commonwealth v. Stovall, No. 1329 WDA 2015, unpublished memorandum at 1-3 (Pa.Super. filed May 6, 2016).

Appellant filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on June 1, 2016. The Supreme Court denied allowance of appeal on February 15, 2017.

On March 22, 2017, Appellant timely filed a PCRA petition pro se.

Counsel was appointed and filed a “supplement” to Appellant’s PCRA petition on May 1, 2017. On June 19, 2017, the PCRA Court filed its Notice of Intent to Dismiss PCRA Without a Hearing Pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(1) and accompanying Opinion. On July 14, 2017, Appellant entered its Order denying Appellant’s PCRA petition, and on August 10, 2017, Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.

The PCRA court did not Order, and Appellant did not file, a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b); however, on August 16, 2017, the PCRA court filed what it titled “Memorandum Opinion” wherein it indicated it would be relying upon the reasoning it had set forth in its Opinion and Notice of Intent to Dismiss PCRA dated June 19, 2017, as its basis for its July 14, 2017, Order.

In his brief, Appellant presents the following seven issues for our review:

A. WHETHER THE APPELLANT WAS AFFORDED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN THAT COUNSEL FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE MANDATES FOR THE PROVISION OF PRO HAC VICE STATUS TO THE APPELLANT'S PRIVATELY RETAINED ATTORNEY?

B. WHETHER THE APPELLANT WAS AFFORDED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN THAT COUNSEL WAS UTTERLY AND PATENTLY UNPREPARED FOR TRIAL GIVEN THAT HE HAD DEFERRED TO PRIVATELY RETAINED COUNSEL TO UNDERTAKE THE MATERIAL ASPECTS OF THE DEFENSE CASE AND THEN GIVEN THE FAILURE TO ACT TO SECURE PRO HAC VICE STATUS FOR SAID COUNSEL, HE WAS THEN PLACED IN THE UNTENABLE POSITION OF HAVING TO REPRESENT THE APPELLANT WHEN ADMITEDLY [sic] HE WAS NOT PREPARED?

C. WHETHER THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT PRO HAC VICE STATUS UNTO THE PRIVATELY RETAINED ATTORNEY UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES GIVEN THE SELF-

ADMITED UNPREPARDENESS OF COUNSEL WHEREIN THE COURT COMPELLED COUNSEL TO PROCEED, WHICH REDOUNDED FULLY TO THE DETRIMENT AND PREJUDICE OF THE APPELLANT AND NOT COUNSEL?

D. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN UNDULY FRAMING THE CONTENTS OF THE POLICE REPORTS FOR REVIEW BY THE JURY?

E. WHETHER THE APPELLANT WAS AFFORDED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN THAT COUNSEL FAILED TO PRESENT AND EXHAUST ALL AVAILABLE LEGAL ARGUMENT IN FURTERANCE [sic] OF THE SUPPRESSION MOTION?

F. WHETHER THE APPELLANT POSSESSES A PREDICATE FOR CHALLENGE TO THE WARRANTLESS BLOOD DRAW AND THE CONSENT ISSUE PURSUANT TO THE HOLDING OF BIRCHFIELD V NORTH DAKOTA?

G. WHETHER THE MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCE IMPOSED WAS ILLEGAL UNDER ALLEYNE?

Brief of Appellant at 2.

When reviewing an order denying PCRA relief, this Court must discern whether the record supports the PCRA court's determination and whether the

PCRA court's determination is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Phillips, 31 A.3d 317, 319 (Pa.Super. 2011) (citing Commonwealth v. Berry, 877 A.2d 479, 482 (Pa.Super. 2005)). The PCRA court's findings will not be disturbed unless there is no support for the findings in the certified record. Id. (citing Commonwealth v. Carr, 768 A.2d 1164, 1166 (Pa.Super. 2001)).

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