Com. v. Williams, A.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 1, 2018
Docket1877 EDA 2017
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Williams, A. (Com. v. Williams, A.) 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. Williams, A., (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

J-S03044-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA : PENNSYLVANIA : : v. : : : AZAIAH TAHIR WILLIAMS : : No. 1877 EDA 2017 Appellant

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence April 13, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-64-CR-0000384-2015

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., PANELLA, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED MARCH 01, 2018

Appellant Azaiah Tahir Williams appeals from the judgment of sentence

entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County after Appellant was

charged as an adult and plead guilty to attempted murder and sexual assault

for crimes he committed at the age of fifteen. Appellant claims the trial court

erred in denying his motion to decertify the case to juvenile court and abused

its discretion in imposing an overly harsh and excessive sentence.

The trial court aptly summarized the factual background of the case as

follows:

In the late afternoon and early evening hours on the twenty- fourth (24th) day of September, [Appellant] was harassing residents by knocking on their doors. One of the doors [Appellant] knocked on belonged to the victim, Dorothy Krasley. Ms. Krasley was home alone and up until that day managed to care for herself quite capably. [Appellant] entered Ms. Krasley’s home uninvited and stabbed the eighty-three (83) year old woman in her neck,

____________________________________ * Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J-S03044-18

back, and arm with a steak knife. While Ms. Krasley was lying and bleeding on the floor of her home, [Appellant] admitted that he went through her home and took possession of deposit slips and credit cards. To make an already horrific event worse, [Appellant] returned to where Ms. Krasley had been lying and according to his words “removed her clothes and raped her.” He then left the bleeding Ms. Krasley alone.

When police arrived, they found a bloodied Ms. Krasley wearing only a white sweater and underpants. Medical personnel determined that she endured two (2) stab wounds to the back, one (1) stab wound to the throat, two (2) stab wounds to the abdomen, and numerous “slice type” wounds to various parts of her body, including her head, arms, and rib area. While at the scene, Ms. Krasley managed to inform police that [Appellant] entered her residence and stabbed her after she told [Appellant] that he could not use her phonebook or phone. Ms. Krasley made the same statement to three (3) separate people. Since that day, however, Ms. Krasley has been so traumatized by the sexual assault that she will not speak of it. As a result of her injuries, Ms. Krasley underwent a medically induced coma. Ms. Krasley suffered two punctured lungs and required surgery to reconstruct her bowel. When a sexual assault exam was performed, evidence of [Appellant’s] semen was found in the underpants of Ms. Krasley. After four (4) weeks in the hospital and extensive rehabilitation, Ms. Krasley continues to suffer deficits as a result of the attack and her ability to live alone has been greatly compromised.

After [Appellant] left Ms. Krasley alone and bloodied, he returned home to his legal guardians. On the thirtieth (30 th) day of September, six (6) days after the incident, [Appellant’s] legal guardians contacted police after finding Ms. Krasley’s credit card in [Appellant’s] bedroom. [Appellant’s] guardians informed police about [Appellant’s] history of stealing and arranged to meet at the PSP barracks for an interview. The legal guardians informed police that they search [Appellant’s] bedroom daily because of his history of stealing and found Ms. Krasley’s credit card under [Appellant’s] mattress and her deposit slips in [Appellant’s] backpack.

Initially, when asked by police how he came to have Ms. Krasley’s credit card, [Appellant] informed them that he found it on a road. [Appellant] further lied to police by informing them

-2- J-S03044-18

that he was serving detention at school on the day in question and did not know Ms. Krasley and that she was assaulted. After further questioning, [Appellant] said that Ms. Krasley had a knife in her hand when she answered his knock on the door. [Appellant] stated that he let himself in and disarmed Ms. Krasley after she informed him that he could not enter her home. According to [Appellant], he stabbed Ms. Krasley five (5) times when she tried to push him out of her home because he was afraid that she would take the knife from him and stab him. After stabbing Ms. Krasley, [Appellant] admitted that he went through Ms. Krasley’s home and took deposit slips and a credit card from her purse before he removed her clothes and “raped her.” When questioned by a Probation Officer in regards to his statement that he “raped her,” [Appellant] stated that he was almost ninety percent (90%) positive that he didn’t rape her; however, he felt angry and wanted to desecrate her so he pulled down her pants and underwear and masturbated over top of her until he ejaculated. When asked whether he thought Ms. Krasley was dead when he left her home, [Appellant] replied “no.”

With respect to [Appellant’s] criminal background, [Appellant] has an extensive juvenile history. [Appellant] received an informal adjustment for Possession of a Weapon on School Property, a summary harassment, and an adjudication just days before the assault in the present case. The informal adjustment involved [Appellant] bringing a three inch saw blade to school and rubbing it on a student’s arm. The summary harassment involved [Appellant] hitting and kicking an autistic student, taking his glasses and breaking them. The charge which resulted in an adjudication was an incident where [Appellant] allegedly entered an apartment and when apprehended was found to have a hatchet and a small Samurai sword.

Trial Court Opinion, 5/15/17, at 2-4.

In connection with his assault of Ms. Krasley, Appellant was charged as

an adult with attempted homicide, rape (forcible compulsion), burglary

(overnight accommodations, person present), robbery (inflict serious bodily

injury), aggravated assault, and sexual assault. Appellant filed a Petition for

Decertification to the juvenile court. The defense presented the report of Dr.

-3- J-S03044-18

Frank M. Dattilio, Ph.D., ABPP, who offered expert opinion in support of

decertification. In response, the Commonwealth presented the report of Dr.

John O’Brien, M.D., J.D., who offered expert opinion against decertification.

After a hearing at which both experts testified, the lower court denied the

defense’s motion for decertification.

On December 19, 2016, Appellant entered a guilty plea to attempted

homicide and sexual assault. On April 13, 2017, the lower court imposed an

aggregate term of twenty-five to fifty years’ imprisonment in a State

Correctional Institution. Appellant filed post-sentence motions, which were

subsequently denied. This timely appeal followed. Appellant complied with

the lower court’s direction to file a concise statement of errors complained of

on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).

Appellant raises the following issues for our review on appeal:

I. Whether the trial court, sitting as the decertification court, committed a gross abuse of discretion in denying Appellant’s Motion for Decertification?

II. Whether the trial court abused its discretionary sentencing powers in sentencing a 17 year old juvenile with a zero Prior Record Score to 25 to 50 years imprisonment constituting an overly harsh and excessive sentence and abusing its sentencing discretion?

Appellant’s Brief, at 7.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Commonwealth v. Jackson
722 A.2d 1030 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Aziz
724 A.2d 371 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Pyle
342 A.2d 101 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1975)
Commonwealth v. Brown
26 A.3d 485 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Commonwealth v. Taylor
137 A.3d 611 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)
Commonwealth v. Thomas
67 A.3d 838 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Williams, A., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-williams-a-pasuperct-2018.