Commonwealth v. Brown

987 A.2d 699, 605 Pa. 103, 2009 Pa. LEXIS 2788
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania·Decided December 29, 2009·No. 512 CAP·Published·Cited by 35 cases

Opinions

OPINION

Justice EAKIN.

This is a direct appeal from a death sentence imposed after a jury convicted appellant of first degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and carrying a firearm without a license.1 At the penalty phase, the jury found two aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances. We affirm the first degree murder conviction and the sentence of death.2

[110]*110On December 10, 2003, appellant, then age 24, and Rahsaan Anderson were standing on Girard Avenue in Philadelphia, near a school, subway station, gas station, and restaurant. Around 3:00 p.m., appellant saw Robert Crawford crossing Girard Avenue, and stated, “There go that pussy.” N.T. Trial, 5/26/05, at 33. Appellant approached Crawford and, without provocation, shot him multiple times in the back.

After shooting Crawford, appellant and Anderson began to run but were quickly deterred by two police officers in a patrol vehicle. One officer stopped and frisked Anderson, but found no weapon. The second officer saw appellant across the street with his right hand in his jacket pocket and ordered him multiple times to show his hands. Appellant refused to remove his hand from his pocket and instead ran back toward the crime scene and down an alley. The officer pursued him, commanding him to stop. Appellant continued to run, and other officers joined the chase. Appellant eventually crawled beneath a vehicle; the officers pulled him out and took him into custody. A .380 caliber semi-automatic firearm was found near the vehicle’s right rear axle.

Multiple witnesses identified appellant as Crawford’s shooter. Royal Smith, a youth advocate worker, and Christina Ellison, her client, were seated in a vehicle three to five feet away when the shooting occurred. Both identified appellant as the shooter, stating he shot the victim, stood over him after he had fallen, and shot him again. Rahsaan Anderson also identified appellant as the shooter. Angela Sutton testified solely to the shooter’s appearance, confirming previous testimony that the shooter was a dark-complected man, standing 5'7"-5'10" tall, and wearing a dark-hooded sweatshirt or dark jacket.

Several police officers testified to appellant’s flight and arrest, as well as to finding the gun. Crime Scene Investigator Leo Rahill testified to the ballistic evidence recovered from the scene, including three .380 caliber fired cartridge cases, one fired copper-jacketed projectile bullet, and a sample of Crawford’s blood. Ballistics expert John Cannon opined the three cartridges and fired bullet were collected from locations [111]*111consistent with someone standing in one spot and firing multiple projectiles, and the semi-automatic weapon found under the vehicle was the same weapon used to fire the projectiles into Crawford’s body.

Medical Examiner Dr. Edward Chmara testified Crawford died from multiple gunshot wounds, specifically from blood loss due to a ruptured aorta. The first bullet wound was fatal and entered his upper right back, puncturing his right lung and aorta, and exited under his first rib. The second bullet entered Crawford’s right elbow; bullet and jacket fragments remained in his arm’s soft tissue and bone. The third and fourth wounds were located in Crawford’s lower left back. All bullets recovered from Crawford’s body were .380 caliber, consistent with the gun found under the vehicle where appellant hid from police. Appellant did not have a license to carry a firearm.

During the penalty phase, the Commonwealth sought to prove two aggravating factors: during the commission of the offense, appellant knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim, and appellant was convicted of a prior murder. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(7), (d)(ll). To meet its burden, the Commonwealth again called ballistics expert John Cannon, who testified a .380 caliber bullet is capable of passing through a human body and harming another person when shot from 80-100 feet. His testimony also established a person need not be in the immediate line of fire to be lethally wounded by such a bullet, as it could ricochet, taking new, unpredictable courses. The Commonwealth also called Assistant District Attorney William Fisher to testify appellant was previously convicted of second degree murder and robbery for his involvement in the killing of a local store manager during a robbery.3

Appellant presented mitigating evidence through various family members and friends who testified to appellant’s difficult childhood, some admirable qualities, and alleged physical [112]*112and learning disabilities. The testimony alleged appellant struggled with a foot deformity and dyslexia during childhood, his stepfather was an alcoholic, and he had no positive male role model during development. Dr. Allan Tepper, a licensed psychologist, testified appellant was of average intelligence, but had an impaired ability to control his impulses, stunted mental development, and severe personality deficits and defects. Dr. Tepper did, however, find appellant understood rules, was capable of some impulse control, did not suffer from any sort of diminished cognitive ability, was not under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance when he killed Crawford, and presented no indices of an underlying thought disorder.

The jury unanimously found the two aforementioned aggravating circumstances, found no mitigating circumstances, and returned a verdict of death. The trial court sentenced appellant as to all three charges, imposing the death penalty for the first degree murder charge in accordance with the jury’s penalty phase findings.

In all cases in which the death penalty is imposed, it is this Court’s duty to review the record to ensure the evidence sufficiently supports the first degree murder conviction and the finding of aggravating circumstances, and that the sentence was not the product of passion, prejudice, or other arbitrary factors. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h)(3)(i),(ii); see also Commonwealth v. Baumhammers, 599 Pa. 1, 960 A.2d 59, 68 (2008) (citations omitted) (“In all death penalty direct appeals ... this Court reviews the evidence to ensure that it is sufficient to support the conviction or convictions of first-degree murder.”).

Beyond the mandatory issues of review, appellant raises six additional claims, which we have paraphrased for ease of discussion:

1. Whether the Commonwealth committed reversible error in questioning a witness so as to infer an identification, violating a pre-trial agreement that the witness would not make an in-court identification.
[113]*1132. Whether the trial court erred in allowing the admission of hearsay evidence.
3. Whether the trial court erred in allowing the Commonwealth to present an expert witness during the penalty phase to unnecessarily bolster commonly known facts.
4. Whether the prosecutor committed reversible misconduct during the penalty phase by questioning a defense witness about appellant’s remorse for a prior conviction.
5. Whether the trial court erred at the penalty phase in allowing a prosecution witness to describe in detail the circumstances of appellant’s prior second degree murder conviction.

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Commonwealth v. Brown, 987 A.2d 699, 605 Pa. 103, 2009 Pa. LEXIS 2788 (Pa. 2009).

987 A.2d 699 (Commonwealth v. Brown) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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