Commonwealth v. Bedford

50 A.3d 707, 2012 Pa. Super. 115, 2012 WL 1950152, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1039
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 31, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by64 cases

This text of 50 A.3d 707 (Commonwealth v. Bedford) 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. Bedford, 50 A.3d 707, 2012 Pa. Super. 115, 2012 WL 1950152, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1039 (Pa. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, J.:

Appellant, Duane Bedford, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following his jury trial convictions for first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of a crime (“PIC”).1 Appellant presents several questions for our review, composed of challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, the court’s decision to deny a mistrial, the admission of character evidence, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct. We hold: (1) evidence showing that Appellant shot Sam Brown (“Victim”) in the head at close range sufficiently established Appellant acted with specific intent to kill; (2) Appellant was not entitled to a mistrial based on purported hearsay testimony because the statements did not unduly prejudice him; (3) Appellant waived his evidentiary issue by failing to preserve it at trial; and (4) Appellant’s numerous assertions of prosecutorial misconduct are unpersuasive because none of the alleged instances resulted in undue prejudice to Appellant’s fair trial rights. Accordingly, we affirm.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. Sam Brown knew Appellant, as both men lived on the same block in Southwest Philadelphia, and hired Appellant sometime in 2005 for a construction job. Appellant did some of the work and Victim paid some of the money owed, but a dispute arose before [710]*710the job was completed. The total amount at issue was $900.00, and Victim refused to pay it. The two men just avoided each other for a time, but the conflict resurfaced on May 26, 2006, when Victim discovered the windows of his car had been smashed. Victim suspected Appellant and, two days later, went to the home of Frances Quitman to confront Appellant. When asked about the car, Appellant told Victim, “I’ll talk to you outside about it.” As the two men walked to the front porch, Appellant reached out to grab Victim, who shoved Appellant away. Moments later, Appellant pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Victim three times.

Victim was transported to the- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and died there approximately one hour after the shooting. Appellant fled the scene and the Philadelphia area entirely. Police eventually loeáted and captured Appellant in York, PA, after a year-long search that featured a profile of Appellant on the television show America’s Most Wanted. Appellant had changed his appearance and was living in York under a new name and with a new family.2

Following his capture in York, police charged Appellant with first-degree murder, PIC, and numerous other offenses. The case proceeded tó a jury trial, where Appellant claimed self-defense and attempted to paint Victim as the aggressor. Specifically, Appellant stated he opened fire because Victim was beating him from behind with a metallic object, which Appellant believed was a weapon. In rebuttal, the Commonwealth called Police Sergeant Sean Butts, a longtime friend of Victim, who testified to Victim’s peaceable nature. Defense counsel objected to this testimony solely on the grounds of relevance. The court overruled the objection and permitted Sgt. Butts to testify. The jury found Appellant guilty of first-degree murder and PIC. The court sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment on the murder charge and a concurrent sentence of two and a half to five years’ imprisonment for PIC.

Appellant timely appealed and a three-judge panel of this Court vacated and remanded for a new trial on the ground that the court erred when it allowed Sgt. Butts to give “character evidence not in the form of reputation testimony.” The panel further concluded the error was not harmless, primarily because Appellant raised self-defense, making Victim’s reputation for peacefulness a critical issue. The Commonwealth sought en banc reconsideration, which this Court granted on October 20, 2011.

Appellant raises five issues for our review:

IS APPELLANT ENTITLED TO AN ARREST OF JUDGMENT ON ALL CHARGES WHERE THE EVIDENCE, AS HERE, IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO SUSTAIN THE VERDICT?
IS APPELLANT ENTITLED TO A NEW TRIAL AS THE RESULT OF COURT ERROR WHERE THE COURT PERMITTED BLATANT HEARSAY WHICH ESTABLISHED THAT SOMEONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAD SAID THAT APPELLANT SHOT AND KILLED VICTIM? IS APPELLANT ENTITLED TO A NEW TRIAL AS THE RESULT OF COURT ERROR WHICH PERMITTED SERGEANT BUTTS TO OFFER EVIDENCE OF GOOD CHARACTER OF [VICTIM] WHERE SAME WAS [711]*711IMPROPER AND WAS OFFERED IMPROPERLY THROUGH THE FORM OF PERSONAL OPINION?
SHOULD APPELLANT BE AWARDED A NEW TRIAL AS THE RESULT OF PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT DURING THE COURSE OF TRIAL, AND WHERE THE PROSECUTOR REFERRED TO EVIDENCE NOT OF RECORD, REFERRED TO HEARSAY, AND ASKED A PARTICULAR QUESTION ONLY TO UNFAIRLY PREJUDICE THE JURY?
SHOULD APPELLANT BE AWARDED A NEW TRIAL AS THE RESULT OF PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT (A) DURING CROSS-EXAMINATION OF APPELLANT; (B) DURING CLOSING ARGUMENT WHERE THE PROSECUTOR ALLUDED TO EVIDENCE NOT PRESENTED; AND (C) WHERE THE PROSECUTOR BRANDED APPELLANT A LIAR?

(Appellant’s Brief at 3).

Appellant first argues there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for first-degree murder. Specifically, Appellant contends the Commonwealth failed to prove he acted with specific intent to kill, mostly due to Appellant’s belief that Victim was the aggressor and came looking for Appellant “with hardness of heart.” Appellant claims the Commonwealth’s evidence was entirely lacking on this element, and without his own decision to testify in self-defense, there would have been no evidence that Appellant even shot Victim. Appellant concedes the jury was free to disbelieve his version of events, but he reasons the jury cannot find him guilty solely because they disbelieved him. According to Appellant, he should receive a new trial because the jury convicted him for an impermissible reason. We disagree.

When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we must regard all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, giving that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences. Commonwealth v. Torres, 564 Pa. 219, 223, 766 A.2d 342, 344 (2001). Additionally, an appellate court does not weigh the evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the fact-finder. Commonwealth v. Flamer, 848 A.2d 951, 953 (Pa.Super.2004), appeal denied, 580 Pa. 711, 862 A.2d 1253 (2004). A person is guilty of first-degree murder where the Commonwealth proves that (1) a human being was unlawfully killed; (2) the person accused is responsible for the killing; and (3) the accused acted with specific intent to kill. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502(a), (d); Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 580 Pa. 303, 308, 860 A.2d 102, 105-06 (2004). An intentional killing is a “Milling by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502(d). Specific intent to kill can be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim’s body. DeJesus, supra at 308, 860 A.2d at 106.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 A.3d 707, 2012 Pa. Super. 115, 2012 WL 1950152, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1039, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-bedford-pasuperct-2012.