Com. v. Vasquez, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 19, 2020
Docket96 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Vasquez, J. (Com. v. Vasquez, J.) 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. Vasquez, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S14019-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellee : : v. : : JOSE JAVIER VASQUEZ : : Appellant : No. 96 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered November 30, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0007339-2016

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellee : : v. : : JOSE JAVIER VASQUEZ : : Appellant : No. 102 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered November 30, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0007340-2016

BEFORE: BOWES, J., KING, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY KING, J.: FILED MAY 19, 2020

Appellant, Jose Javier Vasquez, appeals from the judgment of sentence

entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following his jury

trial convictions for two counts of aggravated assault.1 We reverse Appellant’s

____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a). J-S14019-20

convictions, vacate the judgment of sentence, and remand for a new trial.

In its opinion, the trial court accurately set forth the relevant facts of

this case as follows:

In October of 2014, Appellant was living with [J.R.], with whom he had an on-and-off relationship, dating back to 2010. [J.R.] had a two-year-old daughter…and 11-month- old twins…, none of whom were Appellant’s daughters.

On Sunday, October 12, 2014, the three girls, having spent the weekend at [the home of the oldest daughter’s] grandmother…returned to [J.R.’s] home. [J.R.] fed, bathed, and played with the two babies, before putting them to bed. They seemed fine.

At some point during the night, [J.R.] woke up to find Appellant had left their bed. She left the bedroom and found the door to the three girls’ bedroom open, which was unusual, since she closes it to keep [her] two-year-old…from wandering. [J.R.] then went into the bathroom where she found Appellant with a rolled up $100 bill and white powder on the toilet tank lid, which she believed to be heroin.

[Appellant] said he thought someone had been trying to get in [the house]. They went downstairs and he showed her a basement door with holes that he had braced. [J.R.] went back to bed and was awakened when the alarm went off. The police responded to the home a short time later. [J.R.] observed additional holes in the door. The police checked the property, then left. She checked the children and observed that the twins’ hair seemed to be wet, which struck her as unusual. When she asked Appellant if he had gone into the children’s room, he said he had and gave the twins water because they appeared thirsty.

On October 13, 2014, at around 10:00 AM, [J.R.] checked on the twins and saw that they were still sleeping, which was also unusual. Their bottles were not in their bed, but were downstairs by the sink, which was also unusual. When she tried to give them their bottle, they wouldn’t wake up. She attempted to wake them without success.

-2- J-S14019-20

[J.R.] asked Appellant to drive them to the hospital. He suggested splashing water on the children’s faces, but they did not respond to that. So [J.R.] again asked Appellant to take them to the hospital. As they prepared to go, the twins were placed in their car seats and [J.R.] observed Appellant blowing marijuana smoke in their faces.

When they arrived at the hospital, Appellant did not go in with [J.R.] and the children, but only came in later. At the hospital, the twins were diagnosed as under the influence of drugs, which diagnosis was confirmed by positive drug screens for opiates and marijuana. Narcan was then administered to both children. They remained in the hospital for two days.

When asked how the children might have gotten drugs, [J.R.] failed to disclose to medical personnel at the hospital and police that Appellant with whom she lived was a user of controlled substances. As a result, she was subsequently charged and entered a plea of guilty in May of 2015 to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child [(“EWOC”)].

(Trial Court Opinion, filed June 20, 2019, at 2-3) (internal citations omitted).

Procedurally, the Commonwealth charged Appellant at two docket

numbers (one per each victim) with possession of a controlled substance with

the intent to deliver, attempted murder, aggravated assault, recklessly

endangering another person, simple assault, EWOC, and conspiracy.2 Prior to

trial, the Commonwealth moved to preclude the introduction/mention at trial

of a polygraph examination J.R. underwent, as well as any statements J.R.

allegedly made prior to, during, or after the polygraph examination. On June

25, 2018, the court heard argument on the Commonwealth’s motion. During

2 The Commonwealth later nolle prossed all charges except for aggravated assault.

-3- J-S14019-20

argument, the parties acknowledged the general law of prohibiting the

mention of a polygraph examination or introduction of the results of a

polygraph examination at trial. Nevertheless, Appellant alleged that prior to

the polygraph examination, J.R. admitted to the polygraph examiner that she

had given drugs to the twins. Appellant argued J.R.’s “admission” was

admissible at trial for impeachment purposes. Appellant further agreed that

he would not reference the polygraph examination itself or bring up the results

of the polygraph examination (i.e., whether deception was indicated);

Appellant sought only to admit J.R.’s “admission.” Following argument, the

court granted the Commonwealth’s motion to preclude, stating the polygraph

examination and J.R.’s alleged pre-examination statement were so

“intrinsically intertwined” that it could not separate the pre-examination

statement from the context of the polygraph. (See N.T. Pre-Trial Motion

Hearing, 6/25/18, at 6-11).

The next day, the court revisited its ruling based on the

Commonwealth’s concession that the entire case rested on J.R.’s testimony

implicating Appellant. The court asked the parties if J.R.’s alleged pre-

examination statement could be severed from the context of the polygraph

examination. The Commonwealth disputed that J.R. definitively made the

alleged admission during the pre-examination and suggested it was unclear

from the written polygraph examination report whether J.R. made the alleged

admission in the pre-examination or during the actual polygraph. In any

-4- J-S14019-20

event, the Commonwealth maintained J.R.’s alleged statement was

inadmissible per the general law in Pennsylvania disapproving of references

to polygraph examinations at trial. After hearing argument from the parties

for a second time, the court affirmed its prior ruling, again stating that J.R.’s

alleged admission was “sufficiently intertwined” with the polygraph process

such that the statement could not be explored without discussion of the

polygraph. (See N.T. Pre-Trial Motion Hearing, 6/26/18, at 38-52).

On June 27, 2018, Appellant proceeded to a jury trial. 3 The

Commonwealth presented only two witnesses: J.R. and Detective Kimberly

Boston. During her testimony, J.R., inter alia, recounted the events of October

12-13, 2014. Significantly, J.R. denied that she gave the children any drugs.

J.R. admitted that she did not disclose to medical personnel at the hospital or

to police that Appellant was a drug user; and J.R. pled guilty to two counts of

EWOC in connection with that omission.

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