Com. v. Theisen, C.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided August 4, 2017·No. Com. v. Theisen, C. No. 703 WDA 2016·Unpublished

Opinion

J-S39005-17

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

CHARLES THEISEN,

Appellant No. 703 WDA 2016

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered January 12, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0012533-2014 CP-02-CR-0013588-2014 CP-02-CR-0014997-2014

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED AUGUST 4, 2017

Appellant, Charles Theisen, appeals from the judgment of sentence of

an aggregate term of 20½-41 years’ incarceration, imposed following his

conviction for two counts of robbery, and several individual counts of

aggravated assault, theft, receiving stolen property, and related offenses.

Appellant claims that the trial court erred by denying his suppression motion

without a hearing, and without issuing a contemporaneous statement of the

court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Appellant also contends that

the trial court utilized an impermissible sentencing factor by considering the

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S39005-17

testimony of the investigating officer, who was not a victim, during the

sentencing hearing. After careful review, we affirm.

The trial court summarized the facts adduced at trial as follows:

On October 8, 2014, Daniel Eisel was driving his mother's car, a 1994 Buick Century[,] on Hazeldell Street when he decided to stop and get something to eat. Eisel parked the car across the street from 2210 Hazeldell Street and although he had locked the doors, the driver's window and front seat passenger window were left open … approximately one inch. When he returned from eating, that car was no longer there. Later that day, Gloria Wolowski completed her shopping in the Town Square complex located in Brentwood. She went to her car, placed her purse on the driver's seat and then proceeded to place her groceries in the trunk of her car. She then noticed an unknown white male, approximately thirty years of age, wearing a Steeler jersey with facial hair with a thin build, driving an older blue car which pulled up next to her car, striking her vehicle with his mirror. The driver of that car never got out of the vehicle and apparently slid across the seat, opened her door and grabbed her purse. Wolowski observed this and then ran to the other car and got ahold of her purse and was fighting to get it back when the driver started to speed away causing her to violently fall to the pavement. This theft was witnessed by Greg Mondry and Wes Stabler, who ran to Wolowski's aid. Mondry got a good look at the actor and gave basically the same description as Wolowski did to the police. Wolowski was transported to St. Clair Hospital to be treated for a fractured scapula, fractured rib, lacerations, swelling and bruising on her left knee and right wrist. Wolowski was seventy-three years old at the time of this robbery.

On August 9, 2014, Donna Gall had just completed her shopping at the Giant Eagle located at Parkway Center Mall in Green[ Tree], Pennsylvania, and was placing her groceries in her car when she noticed that a vehicle had pulled extremely close to her driver's side door with [h]is driver's side door and attempted to grab her purse from her arm. The driver of the other car never exited his vehicle and Gall struggled with this individual, refusing to

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give her purse when he had to speed away, causing Gall to get tangled in her purse and having to run alongside the speeding automobile for approximately ten feet. Gall then fell to the ground and the purse was ripped from her. Green[ Tree] Police were able to obtain a video of the vehicle that was used during the robbery and it revealed that Easel's stolen vehicle, the 1994 Buick Century, was used during the commission of this robbery. Gall described the driver as being in his late twenties, thin build, medium height, and wearing a black shirt and had dark hair and also had facial hair. Gall suffered injuries to both of her knees in addition to several bruises and contusions. She believed that her life was in danger. Gall was sixty-four years old at the time of this robbery. Later on August 9, 2014, Soon Ja Hong was walking along Noblestown Road when she heard the engine of a speeding vehicle approach her. Hong observed an older blue vehicle pull up to her at an extremely close range and grab her purse that was hanging from her arm. The driver of the car grabbed her purse and Hong and the driver proceeded to struggle over this purse, however, he was unable to get the purse from her and then sped away. Hong described the individual who attempted to take her purse as … being a white male of thin build and medium height. She also described the car used in this attempted robbery as an older blue Buick.

After Easel's vehicle had been stolen on August 8, 2014, the police put out a description of that vehicle in an attempt to locate it. On August 20, 2014, Pittsburgh Police received an anonymous phone call saying that a blue Buick Century was parked outside of 338 Sweetbriar Street. The police then went to that address and noticed that the car was parked with all of its windows down. The police set up surveillance to see who would attempt to drive that car and they then saw an individual wearing a Steeler jersey approach the vehicle. That individual got into that vehicle and was attempting to leave when the police pulled in, blocking his exit. The driver of this vehicle was then identified as [Appellant]. When he was questioned by the police [Appellant] said he just received that vehicle from another individual and that he could not have committed these robberies since he was in the hospital and was treated for fractures of both of his heels. When

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[Appellant] was arrested he had casts on both legs up to his shins. [Appellant] told the police that he had stolen this car on Paul Street in Mt. Washington on August 17 and wondered what took the police so long to get him. When he was questioned about his injuries, he said that he had fallen off of a roof and went to the hospital on August 1 and then signed himself out on August 10 and went to another hospital on that date and stayed there until being released on August 15. The police got a search warrant for [Appellant]'s medical records and determined that [Appellant] signed off on a release against medical advice on August 6, 2014, when he left Mercy Hospital.

Trial Court Opinion (TCO), 3/27/17, at 6-9.

Appellant was charged in four separate criminal complaints for the

above actions, one for each of his victims, all of which resulted in

convictions. However, only three of those cases went to trial and are now

part of the instant appeal: CP-02-CR-0012533-2014 (“12533-2014”), CP-02-

CR-0013588-2014 (“13588-2014”), and CP-02-CR-0014997-2014 (“14997-

2014”). In the fourth case, CP-02-CR-0012344-2014, Appellant pled guilty

to receiving stolen property and two motor vehicle offenses on April 18,

2016. The trial court notes that the fourth case was not part of the instant

appeal. TCO at 3. Moreover, the specific offenses charged in each of the

first three cases are not germane to the two issues raised in this appeal.

The relevant procedural history of these cases is as follows. After the

Commonwealth charged him in the above matters, Appellant filed a motion

to suppress any in-court identification testimony by eyewitnesses, including

the victims in this case, on the basis that they were shown a photo array by

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