Commonwealth v. Castillo

18 Pa. D. & C.5th 57
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedNovember 1, 2010
Docketno. 62/2010
StatusPublished

This text of 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 57 (Commonwealth v. Castillo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Castillo, 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 57 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

BANACH, J.,

On February 17, 2010, the above-captioned defendant was arraigned on one count of criminal homicide1, one count of robbery2, one count of theft by unlawful taking3, and one count of receiving stolen property4. Timely omnibus pretrial motions were filed on March 19,2010, including a motion to suppress results of search warrant issued November 19, 2009, motion to suppress search warrant issued November 20, 2009, motion to suppress court orders pursuant to 18 Pa.Con.Stat.Ann. §5721.1 (b)(2) and (6), motion to dismiss robbery charge, motion to suppress defendant’s statements, and motion to bar Commonwealth from seeking death penalty. A pretrial motion hearing was held before this court on July 20,2010. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court took the omnibus pretrial motions under advisement.

On September 9, 2010, the defendant submitted a brief in support of omnibus pretrial motions, specifically addressing the motions to suppress the search warrants issued November 19, 2009 for the defendant’s person, the motion to suppress the court orders authorizing the defendant’s electronic records, and the motion to suppress the search warrant issued for the defendant’s arrest, a cellular telephone and cellular telephone accessories. On September 23, 2010, the commonwealth submitted its response to the defendant’s pretrial motions.

Upon consideration of the defendant’s omnibus pretrial [60]*60motion, the briefs submitted by the defendant and the commonwealth, relevant case law and the applicable statutes, the defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion is denied.

SUMMARY OF THE FACTS

On November 17, 2009, members of the Allentown Police Department were summoned to 516 North Park Street in the City of Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Upon their arrival, police observed an unresponsive male lying on the ground in the vestibule area of the home, approximately ten feet from the front door. Police observed a bleeding head laceration. The victim was identified as Mr. Delfino Sanchez-Villaneueva.

In addition to Mr. Sanchez’s body, Detective Pedro Cruz of the Allentown Police Department, who responded to the scene, observed what appeared to be blood stain that had been attempted to be cleaned on the wall where Mr. Sanchez was laying. Further, police officers found part of a brick and a blood-soaked white, black and gold Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt/sweater in the trash container in the kitchen area of the residence. These items were secured and taken into evidence.

An autopsy was performed by Dr. Sara Funke. The cause of death was blunt force head trauma and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Through investigation, police determined that Mr. Sanchez and the owner of the residence, Mr. Francisco Garcia, were the only individuals living at the residence. [61]*61However, the defendant formerly resided at the home and had recently moved out. Additional police investigation established that Mr. Sanchez had withdrawn money from his bank account hours before his death (approximately $4,400) and wired a portion of the money (approximately $1,000) to the Dominican Republic at Mundo Satellite, Inc., located at 607 North 7th Street, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Approximately one hour following the victim’s transaction at Mundo Satellite, the defendant wired money (approximately $1,000) to the Dominican Republic, also from Mundo Satellite.

Although no video surveillance from November 17, 2009 was obtained, police were able to obtain video from Mundo Satellite that reflected the defendant’s prior transactions. Two weeks before the victim’s death, video captured the defendant making a transaction wearing a white Pittsburgh Steelers shirt similar to the blood-covered shirt recovered from the murder scene.

Police also obtained surveillance video from locations in the general vicinity of 516 North Park Street on the day of the murder. Both the victim and defendant were identifiable as being in the same general area at roughly the same time.

On November 19, 2009, Detective Cruz applied for a search warrant for the body of the defendant, seeking items including the defendant’s blood, fingerprints and buccal swabs. On the same date, court orders were issued, authorizing electronic records pertaining to two cellular telephone numbers used by the defendant.

[62]*62On November 20, 2009, the defendant was taken into custody for the purposes of executing the search warrant for his body. At that time, the defendant was given Miranda warnings, signed a waiver of his rights and was interviewed in Spanish by Detective Cruz, in the presence of Detective Glenn Granitz, Jr.5 During the interview, the defendant told Detective Cruz that he was present at the victim’s residence on November 17, 2009 and that while there, he and the victim argued over money the victim owed to the defendant. The defendant related that a struggle eventually ensued in the kitchen area, resulting in the defendant going to the basement, retrieving a brick and striking the defendant in the back of the head multiple times. The defendant removed a large amount of money from the victim’s pocket, attempted to clean up the blood, and discarded his Pittsburgh Steelers shirt in the kitchen garbage can.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion contains a motion to suppress results of search warrant issued November 19, 2009, a motion to suppress search warrant issued November 20, 2009, a motion to suppress court orders (for the electronic records) pursuant to 18 Pa.Con. Stat.Ann. §5721.1 (b)(2) and (6), a motion to dismiss robbery charge, a motion to suppress defendant’s statements, and a motion to bar commonwealth from seeking death penalty.

[63]*63 Motion to Suppress the November 19, 2009 and November 20, 2009 Search Warrants

First, the defendant argues that the search warrant issued on November 19,2009 for the body of the defendant ought to be suppressed because probable cause was not shown within the four comers of the affidavit. Specifically, the warrant in question listed “items to be seized” as “buccal swabs, fingernail scraping, blood, fingerprints, clothing, body inspection for cuts and bruises, photograph of [defendant] and house keys.” OPTMEx. C-14. Second, the defendant argues that the four comers of the affidavit attached to the November 20, 2009 search warrant does not contain specific information connecting the defendant to the victim’s death. The defendant argues that based on the facts put forth in the affidavits attached to each warrant, no probable cause was substantiated and the warrants were improperly granted.

Article 1, Section 8, of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides:

The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by the affiant.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution states:

[64]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 Pa. D. & C.5th 57, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-castillo-pactcompllehigh-2010.