Commonwealth v. Blackburn

414 A.2d 638, 272 Pa. Super. 1, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3221
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 9, 1979
Docket234 Special Transfer Docket
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 414 A.2d 638 (Commonwealth v. Blackburn) 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. Blackburn, 414 A.2d 638, 272 Pa. Super. 1, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3221 (Pa. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinions

CIRILLO, Judge:

Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and criminal conspiracy. A demurrer was sustained on possession of an instrument of crime. The defendant has appealed to the Supreme Court. The conviction is affirmed.

On August 17, 1975, at approximately 1:00 a. m., the defendant, Steven Blackburn, and co-defendant, Victor Jones, drove together to a playground at 12th Street and Susquehanna Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to collect a debt owed to the defendant by the deceased, Reed Alston. A fight erupted between the defendant and the deceased in an office at the playground and carried outside to the street. The co-defendant was present there and joined in the fight. The deceased was kicked and beaten by Blackburn and Jones. A chase, in pursuit of the deceased ensued, wherein the co-defendant heard someone behind him shout “. . . stop him . . shoot him.” The co-defend[4]*4ant shot the deceased three times in the back, which caused his death. Another man, Christopher Black, was present when the deceased was shot.

The complaint was issued and a detainer lodged against the defendant by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on September 7, 1975. At this time, the defendant was being held by Ohio authorities awaiting trial for robbery in that jurisdiction. The defendant plead guilty to that charge on February 4,1976; he was sentenced; and he was incarcerated. Extradition proceedings were then instituted and the defendant was returned to this jurisdiction on June 4, 1976. On June 12, 1976, a pre-trial motion to quash the information based on a Violation of Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 1100 was argued and denied. The pre-trial hearing judge determined that the period of time during which the defendant was held in Ohio was such that it should be excluded from the one hundred and eighty day time period of Rule 1100 because of the unavailability of the defendant. The lower court concluded that due diligence was exercised in returning the defendant to Pennsylvania and that under the circumstances, no violation of defendant’s right to a speedy trial occurred. The trial commenced on November 24, 1976, and ended December 1, 1976.

Post-trial motions were filed with the lower court on November 9, 1977, approximately eleven months after the verdict was returned. On February 17, 1978, after oral argument, the post-trial motions were denied and the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment in the State Correctional Institution for first degree murder, and he was sentenced to five to ten years for conspiracy to run concurrently.

The first issue we address is whether the defendant’s demurrer to the charge of conspiracy should have been granted. The defendant contends that the Commonwealth failed to present a prima facie case of conspiracy.

The Commonwealth may prove indirectly an agreement in order to establish the existence of a conspiracy: Commonwealth v. Holmes, 482 Pa. 97, 393 A.2d 397 (1978).

[5]*5“While more than mere association must be shown, [a] conspiracy may be inferentially established by showing the relation, conduct, or circumstances of the parties, and the overt acts on the part of co-conspirators have uniformly been held competent to prove that a corrupt confederation had in fact been formed.”

Commonwealth v. Roux, 465 Pa. 482, 488, 350 A.2d 867, 870 (1976), quoting from Commonwealth v. Horvath, 187 Pa.Super. 206, 211, 144 A.2d 489, 492 (1958).

Since both the defendant and co-defendant Jones drove to the playground together to look for Alston, beat and kicked Alston, and chased Alston, during which co-defendant Jones shot the deceased, acting in concert is established.

The demurrer was properly denied because the prosecution’s evidence, including reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it, was sufficient to support a jury’s finding that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of conspiracy. Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 460 Pa. 665, 671, 672, 334 A.2d 285, 288 (1975). After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth and accepting as true all the evidence together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, upon which the jury could properly have based its verdict, we are convinced that the evidence in this case is of sufficient quality and quantity to support the convictions. Commonwealth v. Brown, 467 Pa. 388, 392, 357 A.2d 147, 149 (1976).

The second issue we address is whether the pre-trial hearing court erred in not quashing the bill of information and, consequently, whether the defendant’s right to a speedy trial was denied by the failure of the Commonwealth to diligently extradite him from the State of Ohio. We find that the defendant was not denied his right to a speedy trial. Under Pa.Rules Crim.P. 1100(a)(2):

Trial in a court case in which a written complaint is filed against the defendant after June 30, 1974, shall commencé no later than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date on which the complaint is filed.

[6]*6Pa.Rules Crim.P. 1100(d)(1) further provides, and is applicable to this case,

In determining the period for commencement of trial, there shall be excluded therefrom such period of delay at any stage of the proceedings as results from:

(1) the unavailability of the defendant or his attorney.

Since the defendant was detained in Ohio on robbery charges when the complaint was issued, and was not returned to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until June 4, 1976, the pre-trial hearing on June 12, 1976, was not unreasonable delay. In addition, the trial commencing on November 24, 1976, was within the one hundred eighty (180) day period. “It is axiomatic that all periods of delay beyond the mandatory period must be either excluded from the computation of the period or justified by an order granting an extension pursuant to the terms of Rule 1100 if the Commonwealth is to prevail.” Commonwealth v. Dozier, 258 Pa.Super. 367, 373, 392 A.2d 837, 840 (1978), Commonwealth v. Shelton, 469 Pa. 8, 14-15, 364 A.2d 694, 697 (1976), quoting Commonwealth v. O’Shea, 465 Pa. 491, 496, 350 A.2d 872, 874 (1976). The pre-hearing judge determined that there had been no violation of the one hundred eighty (180) day rule; and, the court excluded the time the defendant was in Ohio from computation. Under Rule 1100, trial commences when the lower court calls the case for trial. The defendant was present on June 4, 1976. Trial commenced within the one hundred eighty (180) day period.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
414 A.2d 638, 272 Pa. Super. 1, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-blackburn-pasuperct-1979.