Commonwealth v. Conaway

791 A.2d 359, 2002 Pa. Super. 9, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 7
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 15, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 791 A.2d 359 (Commonwealth v. Conaway) 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. Conaway, 791 A.2d 359, 2002 Pa. Super. 9, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 7 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

MUSMANNO, J.

¶ 1 Appellant Raymond Conaway (“Con-away”) appeals from the judgment of sentence entered following his conviction of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. 1 We affirm.

¶2 The pertinent facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. On February 8, 2001, a jury found Conaway guilty of the above-mentioned offenses. The jury also found co-defendant Glennat-ta Conaway (“Glennatta”), Conaway’s sister, guilty of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawful possession of a small amount of marijuana. 2

¶ 3 In May 2000, Conaway rented Apartment No. 4 located at 3031 Walnut Street. On the morning of May 18, 2000, members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force (“Task Force”) attempted to execute an arrest warrant for Conaway at that address, but only found Glennatta on the premises. Glennatta consented to a search of the apartment. Upon searching, the Task Force found a small amount of marijuana, “blunts,” and razor blades on the coffee table in plain view. Glennatta claimed responsibility for the marijuana. The Task Force also noticed that Glennat-ta appeared to be hiding something under her arms. Upon further examination, the Task Force discovered that Glennatta was hiding a dinner plate with numerous bags containing suspected crack cocaine. At that point, the Task Force arrested Glen-natta.

¶ 4 After Glennatta gave her consent to search the remainder of the apartment, she provided the Task Force with telephone numbers at which Conaway could be reached. 3 The Susquehanna Township police and members of the Dauphin County Drug Task Force (“Dauphin County Task Force”) were then contacted and responded to the scene. During the search of the remainder of the apartment, the Dauphin County Task Force discovered sixty (60) individually packaged pieces of crack cocaine on a dinner plate on top of the kitchen counter. On the same counter, they found an additional twenty (20) pieces of suspected crack cocaine that was packaged identically to the sixty (60) packages. *361 In the kitchen, there was also a sandwich bag containing marijuana seeds, a package of mini-Ziploc bags, and the remains of sandwich bags, from which the corners had been torn off to package the crack cocaine (“corner bags”). The Dauphin County Task Force also discovered two (2) handguns, a .22 caliber pistol, and a 9 millimeter pistol under a futon bed. The serial number of the 9 millimeter pistol was obliterated.

¶ 5 Based upon the cross-reference of the telephone numbers provided by Glen-natta, the Task Force was dispatched to a location on Brokas Drive in Swatara Township to locate Conaway’s car. There, they located a BMW vehicle thought to belong to Conaway, and found him in the driver’s seat in a reclined position. Upon Cona-way’s exit from the vehicle, he was handcuffed and placed under arrest. A search of the vehicle revealed a large baggie, which contained several small pinkish baggies that appeared to contain crack cocaine. The large baggie was located on the passenger’s seat under a shirt. It was later determined that this baggie contained thirteen (13) small baggies of crack cocaine with a value of twenty dollars ($20.00) each.

¶ 6 The Dauphin County Task Force charged Conaway with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia with regard to the items discovered in the apartment and in his vehicle. Glennatta was charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, and altering/obliterating marks of identification. 4

¶ 7 At trial, Marchand Pendleton of the Task Force testified that Glennatta stated to him that “my brother got me into some stuff,” and that she had repeated this statement to him several times. N.T., 2/5/01-2/8/01, at 248. He further testified that Glennatta told him that she had last seen Conaway the previous evening at the apartment and claimed that the crack cocaine found in the apartment belonged to Conaway. N.T., 2/5/01-2/8/01, at 248-49.

¶ 8 Glennatta testified that she had assumed that the crack cocaine belonged to Conaway. N.T., 2/5/01-2/8/01, at 224, 227. She also testified that when she told the Task Force that Conaway had gotten her in trouble, she was referring to his failure to appear in court, which resulted in the issuance of the warrant and the appearance of the Task Force at her apartment. N.T., 2/5/01-2/8/01, at 224-25.

¶ 9 A jury found Conaway guilty of all counts. On March 29, 2001, the trial court sentenced Conaway to an aggregate prison term of three (3) to ten (10) years and a ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine. Cona-way filed a Motion for modification of the sentence, which the trial court denied on May 1, 2001. Conaway then timely filed a Notice of appeal. 5

*362 ¶ 10 On appeal, Conaway raises the following issues:

1. Whether Conaway failed to preserve his claims for appeal when he did not file a brief in support of the statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)?
2. Whether the evidence was insufficient for a jury to convict Conaway of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance rather than simple possession of a controlled substance?

Brief for Appellant at 4.

¶ 11 We will first address the issue of waiver resulting from Conaway’s failure to file a brief in support of his Statement. Pa.R.A.P.1925(b) provides that “the [trial] court may enter an order directing the appellant to file of record in the [trial] court and serve on the trial judge a concise statement of the matters complained of on appeal no later than 14 days after entry of such order.” Pa.R.A.P.1925(b). Rule 1925(b) further provides that a failure to comply with such order may be considered by this Court as a waiver of all objections to the order, ruling or other matter complained of on appeal. Nowhere in this rule is there a requirement that the appellant must file a supporting brief and that a failure to do so would constitute a waiver of all issues, as the trial court suggests. See Trial Court Memorandum and Order, 8/3/01, at 1-2.

¶ 12 Therefore, although Conaway did not file a supporting brief as ordered by the trial court, we conclude that his challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence is not waived because Conaway fully complied with Rule 1925(b).

¶ 13 Conaway contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient for the jury to convict him of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance rather than simple possession of a controlled substance. Conaway argues that the Commonwealth failed to produce sufficient evidence at trial as to why the quantity of crack cocaine found in the vehicle was more consistent with delivery for sale rather than for personal use.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Com. v. Davis, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Lee, C.
303 A.3d 734 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023)
Com. v. Campbell, H.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Degroot, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Com. v. Williams, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Marshall, K.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Smith, F.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Crosby, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Lloyd, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Peterson, O.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Burch, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Sanders, F.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Harvey, G.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Kitchen, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Pruitt, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Mason, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Harris, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Carrol, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. McCants, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Freeman, M. A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
791 A.2d 359, 2002 Pa. Super. 9, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-conaway-pasuperct-2002.