Commonwealth v. Adams

177 A.3d 359
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 27, 2017
Docket813 WDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 177 A.3d 359 (Commonwealth v. Adams) 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
Commonwealth v. Adams, 177 A.3d 359 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

OPINION BY

SOLANO, J.:

Appellant Jordan Timothy Adams appeals from the order entered May 5, 2016, denying his motion to dismiss the charges against him on double, jeopardy grounds. Also before this Court is Appellant’s Motion to Strike Appendix A of the Commonwealth’s Brief. We affirm the order, of the trial court and deny Appellant’s Motion to Strike.

On April 15, 2015, Appellant was charged with multiple crimes arising from the passing of counterfeit fifty-dollar bills at the Warren County Fair in August 2014.1 Appellant’s co-defendant; Christine Redding, was charged-with similar crimes, including a charge of conspiring with Appellant to commit forgery. Redding later pleaded guilty to the criminal conspiracy charge, with the agreement that she would testify against Appellant.2' Redding was subpoenaed to appear at Appellant’s trial.

Appellant filed a motion for discovery-on November 17, 2015. The request included, among other things, “[a]ny evidence favorable to the accused which is material either to guilt or to punishment, and which is in the possession of the attorney for the Commonwealth,” and “[a]ll written or recorded statements, and substantially verbatim oral statements, made by co-defendants and by co-conspirators or accomplices, whether such individuals have been charged or not.” Mot., 11/17/15, at K. The motion specified that the request was in accordance with Pa. R.Crim.P. 573, which governs discovery in a criminal case.

Prior to trial, Appellant’s counsel followed-up on the discovery motion by sending an e-mail to the prosecutor in the case, Warren County First Assistant District Attorney Caleb Gnage. The e-mail requested “any recorded statements by [Appellant] or any of the co[-]defendants.” See Appellant’s Ex. 3 to Hr’g on Appellant’s Mot. to Dismiss. Gnage responded that he would have a copy of “the DVD” available for Appellant’s counsel to pick up, and that he would “comb [the] file” for required discovery. Id. Gnage had previously sent an e-mail to the state police requesting “all the audio/video recordings admitted into evidence” on Appellant’s case. Commonwealth’s Ex. 1 to Hr’g on Appellant’s Mot. to Dismiss.

Appellant’s jury trial began on June 12, 2016. The Commonwealth presented twelve witnesses who were vendors at the Warren County Fair and who had received counterfeit fifty-dollar bills on August 4, 2014.3 None of the vendors were able to positively identify Appellant at trial, and none testified that they had been able to identify Appellant in a photographic lineup when interviewed by the police. However, three of the vendors gave descriptions of a man with characteristics similar to Appellant, and two of the vendors testified that they received a counterfeit bill from a man with a neck tattoo. Appellant has such a tattoo. One of those vendors testified that he received a first counterfeit bill from a young woman, and the second from a young man who had a neck tattoo and a hat displaying the emblem of a marijuana leaf.4

State Trooper Jeffrey Osborne, the lead investigator on the case, testified that he was contacted by security for the fair and interviewed several vendors at the fair the next day, August 5, 2014.5 After contacting other officers who were investigating counterfeit cases, he interviewed several suspects in those cases who had passed counterfeit bills with the same serial numbers as those recovered at the fair. The information garnered from those interviews led Osborne to suspect that Appellant and Redding had conspired to pass bills at the fair.

Osborne testified that he interviewed Appellant twice. The first interview took place on April 27, 2015. It was audio recorded, but the recording was deleted when Osborne attempted to transfer the digital file to storage that same day. According to Osborne,6 Appellant initially denied any knowledge of or involvement with the crime, but ultimately confessed to passing four or five counterfeit bills at the fair, with someone named “Carla,” and stated that he had purchased a hat with a marijuana leaf emblem. Appellant also said something to Osborne along the lines of “having a tattoo on his neck was not a good idea while committing a crime.” N.T., 1/12/16, at 259.

During the second interview, on May 6, 2015, Appellant again confessed to Osborne, this time to passing three counterfeit bills at the fair. The second interview was also audio recorded, and portions of it were played at trial. '

Osborne testified that he also interviewed Redding, but only once. When Appellant’s attorney asked if that interview had been recorded, Gnage called a sidebar and informed the court that the interview of Redding would not have been recorded, as it was done during a polygraph examination. The prosecutor stated “she wouldn’t have been video taped. And- it’s not the habit to video tape 'someone when they are under polygraph.” N.T., 1/12/16, at 319. When questioning resumed, Osborne clarified that he interviewed Red-ding in jail, and that the interview was not recorded.7 Osborne testified that Redding was later interviewed by Corporal Brian Zeybel at the police barracks (referring to the polygraph examination), but that Osborne was not present during that interview.

Corporal Zeybel, whose job mainly entails conducting polygraph examinations, testified that he accompanied Trooper Osborne to the fair and assisted with interviewing witnesses. He testified that he also interviewed Redding.8' When asked on cross-examination whether there was a recording of the interview, Zeybel answered that there was. A sidebar conference was called, at which'Appellant’s counsel complained that she was not given a copy of the recording of the interview. Appellant’s counsel requested the opportunity to review the recording of the interview that night. Appellant’s counsel was given a copy of the video, and court was adjourned.

When Appellant’s trial resumed the following day, Appellant moved for a mistrial. Appellant’s counsel informed the court that the video in fact shows two interviews: (1) Zeybel’s interview of Red-ding during the polygraph examination, and (2) Osborne interviewing Redding immediately afterwards. 'Gnage stated that he was unaware that Zeybel’s interview had been recorded, as it was not indicated in the police report, and was unaware that Osborne had also interviewed Redding on that date, as this was also left out of the report.9 Appellant argued that the statements. made by Redding during the interviews were favorable to Appellant and would have altered the defense strategy at trial. In response, Gnage stated, “I agree that we have absolutely no argument and this is a Brady10 violation. It’s absolutely discoverable..It would change the nature of the defense.” N.T., .1/13/16, at 6. The court granted the motion for a mistrial and dismissed the jury. Notably, Redding, did not appear at the courthouse on either day pf Appellant’s trial.11 The Commonwealth did not appeal the mistrial order.

On April 11, 2016, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss the charges.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
177 A.3d 359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-adams-pasuperct-2017.