Commonwealth v. Croll

20 Pa. D. & C.4th 112, 1993 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 102
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedDecember 10, 1993
Docketno. 1/1987
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Pa. D. & C.4th 112 (Commonwealth v. Croll) 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. Croll, 20 Pa. D. & C.4th 112, 1993 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 102 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1993).

Opinion

DIEFENDERFER, P.J.,

The defendant, David Croll was charged with first degree murder in the October 29,1986 shooting death of Candle Moyer. He was found guilty of first degree murder on March 4, 1988 by a jury and a sentencing of life imprisonment was imposed by the jury immediately thereafter.1 The defendant was originally scheduled to be sentenced by the court on April 4, 1988. Sentencing did not take place at the time due to the defendant’s filing of post-trial motions in the form of a motion for a new trial and a motion for arrest of judgment. Sentencing has yet to take place. The defendant’s post-trial motions were filed on March 14, 1988. However, his brief in support of his post-trial motions was not filed until May 27, 1992. The Commonwealth filed their brief in opposition on June 18, 1992. Argument in respect to said post-trial motions was held on July 15,1992 wherein the court was advised that the post-trial motions were going to be submitted and argued on brief.

On October 29,1986 at about 7:00 RM. the defendant shot and killed the victim, Candie Moyer, while she was sitting in her car at her place of employment at the Emmaus Auto Parts store in Emmaus, Pa. The victim was shot six times at a close range, two shots in the head, two shots in the chest, one shot in the leg and one shot in the left shoulder. The victim was the estranged fiancee of the defendant, the victim having broken oif the engagement the preceding September.

[114]*114The evening before, on October 28, 1986, the victim had gone out with other friends to a local restaurant known as the Fairgrounds Hotel and while she was there the defendant asked the victim to talk outside, which she did. The victim returned to her friends and she was very upset and had told her friends she was in fear of her life. On October 29, 1986 the defendant also appeared upset at work and left work early and returned to his home. Shortly thereafter, the defendant attempted to get hold of the victim and was unable to do so. The defendant, knowing where the victim would be working, went to her place of employment and shot the victim as heretofore stated. The issue of the defendant shooting the victim was never disputed.

Shortly after the defendant shot the victim, the defendant made a call home and talked to his father and said “I thought I had shot Candie.” The father thereupon called the local police and at that time the defendant’s whereabouts were unknown. At or about 7:30 that evening, the defendant called his home and told his father he was located in Easton, Pa. Again, his exact whereabouts were unknown. At or about 8:30 P.M., he again called home and told his father that he was at the Campus Motel in Kutztown, Pa. This information was relayed to the local police and the local police then made efforts to apprehend the defendant. While the defendant was in Kutztown, Pa., he stopped into a local variety store and purchased a small amount of paint and altered his license plate. The defendant was then later apprehended by the local police at the Campus Motel. He attempted to elude the police at that time but was cut off by the police and apprehended. The gun in question was located in the defendant’s motor vehicle.

The defendant was thereafter arrested for criminal homicide (18 Pa.C.S. §2501) and an information to [115]*115that effect was filed by the district attorney of Lehigh County on February 4, 1987. The district attorney, although seeking a conviction of first degree murder, was not asking for the death penalty in this case.

This court will only consider those issues briefed and/or argued by the defendant. All other issues raised in his post-trial motions will be deemed to have been waived. Commonwealth v. Williams, 476 Pa. 557, 383 A.2d 503 (1978).

The defendant’s first contention is that the court erred in not allowing defendant’s experts, Dr. Gerald Cooke and Dr. Robert Sadoff, to testify relying upon a hypnotic session with the defendant as to his state of mind on the date of the shooting.

The defendant asserts that he was temporarily insane when he shot the victim. Further, he alleges that he now suffers from some form of amnesia as to the events of that day and as to the shooting itself. The defendant sought to introduce the testimony of these two experts, Dr. Sadoff and Dr. Cooke, to testify to the defendant’s state of mind on the day of the shooting. Namely, the experts were to render an opinion on whether the defendant suffered some form of diminished capacity or if he was legally insane under the M’Naughten Rule.2

Specifically, Dr. Cooke is a forensic psychologist who was hired by the defense to perform a psychological evaluation of the defendant to determine what state of mind the defendant was in on the day of the shooting. [116]*116Dr. Cooke was prepared to testify at trial regarding the defendant’s capacity to form a specific intent to kill but could not state an opinion as to whether or not the defendant was legally insane under M’Naughten. However, Dr. Cooke stated that if he were able to view the videotape of the defendant’s hypnotic session he might be able to offer an opinion regarding the insanity of the defendant on the day of the shooting. Dr. Cooke was precluded from viewing the tape or relying on the hypnotic session, and did not testify.

Dr. Sadoff is a psychiatrist who was present during the defendant’s hypnotic session. Dr. Sadoff testified in camera that if he were not able to rely on the videotape during his testimony then he would be unable to render an opinion on the defendant’s state of mind during the shooting. Since the court did not permit the use of the videotape and hypnotic session in any capacity, Dr. Sadoff did not testify.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has stated that testimony adduced by hypnotism is inadmissible as evidence. Commonwealth v. Smoyer, 505 Pa. 83, 476 A.2d 1304 (1984). It has been held that two important characteristics of a subject in a hypnotic trance are: hypersuggestibility and hypercompliance. Commonwealth v. Nazarovitch, 496 Pa. 97, 436 A.2d 170 (1981). A subject’s awareness of the purpose of the hypnotic session, coupled with the hypersuggestibility which the subject experiences, amounts to a situation fraught with unreliability. Id.

The majority of Pennsylvania cases dealing with hypnosis are in the area of witness testimony. These cases have held that a witness who was hypnotized may only testify to that information which was stated prior to the hypnosis. The witness cannot testify as to any facts or information adduced from the hypnosis itself. See [117]*117Commonwealth v. Smoyer, supra (a witness, after hypnosis, was only able to recall the jolt administered by the defendant which allegedly resulted in the victim’s death); Commonwealth v. Romanelli, 336 Pa. Super. 261, 485 A.2d 795 (1984), alloc. granted, 520 Pa. 603, 553 A.2d 966 (1988), aff’d, 522 Pa. 222, 560 A.2d 1384

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 Pa. D. & C.4th 112, 1993 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-croll-pactcompllehigh-1993.