Commonwealth v. Canfield

20 Pa. D. & C.4th 530, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 11
Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County·Decided October 30, 1992·No. no. 3707 of 1991·Published

Opinion

FORD, /.,

On August 28, 1992, the Commonwealth filed a motion in limine requesting that the court prohibit admission of and reference to acid phosphatase and spermatozoa found in the alleged victim’s underpants in these cases charging rape and [531] related offenses. On September 8, 1992, defendant Robert Canfield filed a motion in limine requesting that the agreement of the Commonwealth, that the semen found in the victim’s underpants was not from defendant Canfield, be brought to the attention of the jury and be admitted into evidence. A hearing was conducted, in camera, on these motions on October 1, 1992. The only testimony came from the alleged victim. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court, by granting the motion of the Commonwealth, in effect denied the motion of defendant Canfield.1 A draft bench opinion was dictated. This memorandum opinion supersedes the draft opinion and incorporates into it record developments since the October 1, 1992 hearing.

BACKGROUND

The defendants are each charged with two counts of rape,2 involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,3 aggravated indecent assault,4 indecent assault,5 and one count of criminal conspiracy.6

A proper understanding of the subject issue and of the court’s rulings on the motions in these cases requires a review of what occurred at prior hearings.

On March 10, 1992, defendant Canfield filed his first “omnibus pre-trial motion” which included, under section II, “motion for DNA tests,” an allegation that [532] “samples were recovered at the scene containing acid phosphatase and spermatozoa, particularly in the victim’s underpants.” (Omnibus pretrial motion paragraph 8.) In the motion, defendant Canfield also alleged that the tests could exculpate the defendant and be critical to the defendant’s right to a fair trial. (Omnibus pretrial motion paragraph 10.)

A hearing was conducted on this motion on April 20, 1992. At this hearing the parties focused on the stain found in the crotch of the underpants. The Commonwealth created the impression for the court at that hearing that it intended to introduce into evidence at the trial the acid phosphatase and spermatozoa found in the stain in the crotch of the underpants.

On May 1, 1992, the court granted the motion of the defendant. The court ordered the Commonwealth to provide to Cellmark Diagnostics Laboratory samples of the acid phosphatase and spermatozoa and the underpants for analysis. It also ordered that the defendant submit to Cellmark any bodily tissue samples reasonably requested by Cellmark for comparison purposes. The court filed an opinion in support of this May 1, 1992 order in which it set forth the stipulated facts before it.

The Commonwealth and the defendant Canfield had stipulated that the alleged victim was sexually active with her boyfriend, someone other than the defendant, at times prior to the alleged rape with which the defendants are charged. They had stipulated that there will be no testimony that defendant Canfield and the alleged victim had sexual relations prior to the alleged rape. The victim was present at a party with only the defendants in the defendants’ apartment when the alleged rape occurred. Defendant Canfield was the only male present during the party. The parties had stipulated [533] that acid phosphatase and spermatozoa were found in the crotch of the alleged victim’s underpants as was proven by the analysis done by the crime laboratory for the Pennsylvania State Police. The underpants were found by the police in the apartment several days after the alleged rape. They had stipulated that the underpants belonged to the alleged victim. (Op. of May 1, 1992 at 1-2.)

The facts and argument before the court centered on the stain in the underpants of the alleged victim. The court addressed and granted testing of that stain. Neither party expressed concerns about anything other than the testing of the stain in the underpants. The court therefore did not speak to any other subjects in its order and opinion.

On July 6, 1992, defendant Canfield filed his “omnibus pretrial motion,” the second such motion. Under section I entitled “motion for DNA and blood samples,” defendant Canfield alleged that “Cellmark Diagnostic has requested that a full and proper test and comparison cannot be done without an analysis of blood specimens of the victim.” (Second omnibus pretrial motion paragraph 5.) The motion avers that total exclusion of defendant Canfield as the source of the substances found in the victim’s underpants requires identification of the victim’s patterns by the submission of these blood specimens. (Second omnibus pretrial motion paragraph 6.) The prayer of that petition requests that the court order the alleged victim to submit to the extraction of blood samples for the purpose of DNA comparison.

A hearing was conducted on July 13, 1992 on this second omnibus pretrial, motion. The Commonwealth approached this hearing differently from the hearing on the first omnibus pretrial motion. At the hearing on July 13, 1992, the assistant district attorney advised [534] the court that the Commonwealth would stipulate as a matter of fact that any acid phosphatase and spermatozoa found in the alleged victim’s underpants were not from the person of defendant Canfield. The Commonwealth made clear to the court that it would not use the contents of the underpants as evidence against the defendants. The stipulation provided defendant Can-field with the outcome he sought from DNA testing, while the first DNA test produced inconclusive results. The court viewed the stipulation, therefore, as a considerable change of position by the Commonwealth and even asked the assistant district attorney why this position was not stated at the time of the hearing on the first omnibus pretrial motion. The assistant district attorney responded that he did not expect the court to grant the first defense motion.

The court denied the second defense motion by its order of July 13, 1992. Noted in that order is the stipulation of the Commonwealth which has just been described. The court also ordered at that time that all testing being performed by Cellmark for this case shall cease.

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Commonwealth v. Canfield, 20 Pa. D. & C.4th 530, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 11 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1992).

20 Pa. D. & C.4th 530 (Commonwealth v. Canfield) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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