Commonwealth v. Cleveland

14 Pa. D. & C.5th 99
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County
DecidedJuly 7, 2010
Docketno. 01-09
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Pa. D. & C.5th 99 (Commonwealth v. Cleveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Cleveland, 14 Pa. D. & C.5th 99 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

JENKINS, J,

Enraged that Amber Jackson broke off their romance, Freddie Cleveland tracked Jackson down to her parents’ home, broke in through a window, and stabbed her to death. Cleveland incurred serious injuries during his assault that required hospitalization, but he recovered quickly enough to give [101]*101a Mirandized confession the next day. Unbeknownst to Cleveland, the police refused to allow his attorney to contact him and ignored his attorney’s demands not to question him.

The court denied Cleveland’s motion to suppress his confession and his motion in limine to exclude photographs of Amber’s corpse. A jury found Cleveland guilty of first degree murder and related offenses, and the court imposed a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for the murder conviction and consecutive sentences for criminal trespass and possession of an instrument of crime.

Cleveland filed a timely notice of direct appeal and a timely statement of matters complained of on appeal. He later submitted a supplemental statement of matters complained of on appeal. Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) (2), the court will accept the supplemental statement for filing.1

[102]*102The court rejects Cleveland’s argument that the police violated his Fifth Amendment rights by preventing his attorney from contacting him before his confession. The United States Supreme Court has held that “[e] vents occurring outside of the presence of the suspect and entirely unknown to him surely can have no bearing on the capacity to comprehend and knowingly relinquish a constitutional right.” Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 422, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1985). Cleveland never requested an attorney during his interrogation and was unaware that an attorney asked to visit him. He was alert and composed during his interrogation and waived his Miranda rights knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently.

Cleveland also alleges that he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel during his confession by asking whether he would be allowed to see an attorney when he was out of the hospital. The pertinent decisions establish, however, that Cleveland did not assert his right to counsel merely by indicating his desire to meet with an attorney at some future time.

Finally, Cleveland contends that the jury should not have viewed “gruesome” photographs of Jackson’s corpse. Cleveland’s attorney expressly waived his objection to all photographs admitted into evidence during trial. Assuming that Cleveland preserved his objection, the photographs were not prejudicial and were relevant to demonstrate Cleveland’s homicidal intent. And in any event, the other evidence of guilt was overwhelming.

For these reasons, the court recommends that Cleveland’s judgment of sentence be affirmed.

[103]*103FACTUAL HISTORY

Cleveland dated Amber Jackson while Amber was in high school, and after her graduation, they lived together at the Drexel Brook Apartments for 2-3 months. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 214-17. On December 29,2008, Amber broke off their relationship and moved back to her parents’ house in Drexel Hill. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 170, 174,216.

One day later, on December 30, 2008, Cleveland returned his keys to the lease administrator at the Drexel Brook Apartments. N.T., 3/24/10, pp. 203-206. When the administrator opined that Cleveland and Amber were too young to live together, Cleveland “became a little bit animated . . . [H]e said, you never know, and he might get back together [with her].” N.T., 3/24/10, p. 205.

Later that afternoon, Amber arrived at her parents’ house while conversing with Daniel Bronner on her cell phone. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 174,177,273-75. She informed Bronner that Cleveland was outside the house. N.T., 3/23/10, p. 275. Bronner heard Cleveland beg Amber for a hug and ask “why they couldn’t be together, if he was good enough for her.” N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 276-77. Concerned for her safety, Amber entered her parents’ house and instructed her younger sister, April Jackson, to close the blinds and not to go outside. N.T., 3/23/10, p. 277. Amber said that she saw Cleveland outside. N.T., 3/23/10, p. 277.

Amber and April were the only persons in the house. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 174, 177. Moments after Amber arrived, April heard glass break on the front door. N.T., [104]*1043/23/10, p. 179. Amber tried to keep the door closed, shouting: “Go away, Fred.” N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 179-180. Over the phone, Bronner heard glass breaking and Amber screaming: “Fred, no, don’t do this.” N.T., 3/23/10, p. 278. A genetic analyst for the Commonwealth identified a blood stain on the front door as matching Cleveland’s DNA profile. N.T., 3/25/10, p. 19.

Amber told April to hide and call their father, Wayne Jackson. N.T., 3/23/10, p, 180. April ran to her bedroom closet, called Wayne on her cell phone, and reported that “something was wrong, and . . . Fred was in the house, and... he was going to hurt Amber.” N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 181,184; see also, N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 220-21. April heard footsteps running up the back steps and the kind of screaming she associated with scary movies, N.T., 3/23/10, p. 185. The screaming eventually stopped, and she heard footsteps going downstairs. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 191-92.

Wayne Jackson arrived home nine minutes after April’s phone call and saw the center glass broken on the front door. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 222,224-25. April approached him and said that she saw somebody’s foot in the kitchen. N.T., 3/23/10, p. 239. Wayne ran into the kitchen and saw Cleveland lying there, gasping for air with a dark spot on his shirt and a cut on his throat, N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 240, 260. Officer Cosentino of the Upper Darby Police, who had arrived at the residence shortly after Wayne, saw Cleveland lying in the kitchen and identified the spot on his clothes as blood. N.T., 3/24/10, pp, 11-12,14. A genetic analyst for the Commonwealth found that the blood stain on Cleveland’s shirt matched Amber’s DNA profile. N.T., 3/25/10, pp. 13-14.

[105]*105Wayne ran upstairs in search of Amber and found her lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 241 -42. She had been stabbed with a butcher’s knife from the kitchen. N.T., 3/23/10, pp. 246-252. The Commonwealth’s medical examiner determined that she died from 26-28 stab wounds and five-10 slash wounds on her head, chest, hands and back.2 N.T., 3/25/10, pp. 54-63. A stab wound is deeper than it is long on the skin, while a slash wound is a more superficial wound inflicted when the knife is waved in a slashing manner. N.T., 3/25/10, pp. 54-55.

Cleveland was non-responsive and had a life-threatening injury to his chest. N.T., 3/24/10, p. 40. He underwent successful emergency surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. N.T., 3/24/10, p. 52.

On the evening of December 31,2008, prior to Cleveland’s arraignment, Captain Rhoades of the Upper Darby Police Department interviewed Cleveland at the hospital. N.T., 3/25/10, pp. 114-15,118. Eighteen hours had passed since Cleveland’s surgery. N.T., 3/25/10, p. 141. He received opiate pain relievers two hours before the interview, N.T., 3/25/10, pp. 136-38.

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