Commonwealth v. Doamaral

337 A.2d 273, 461 Pa. 517, 1975 Pa. LEXIS 803
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 25, 1975
Docket280
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 337 A.2d 273 (Commonwealth v. Doamaral) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme 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. Doamaral, 337 A.2d 273, 461 Pa. 517, 1975 Pa. LEXIS 803 (Pa. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

MANDERINO, Justice.

Appellant, Pedro Doamaral, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in a nonjury trial. Post-verdict mo[519]*519tions were denied by the court en banc. (Judge Reed dissenting.) Appellant received a sentence of two to twelve years imprisonment. This appeal followed.

On May 7, 1971, one Larry Chatman was fatally shot while standing on a street corner in Philadelphia. Two days later, May 9, 1971, at 12:45 p. m., appellant and his older brother were arrested at their home and taken to the police station. Appellant, who was 15 years old at the time, was placed alone in an interrogation room. During that day, he was interrogated on three different occasions by three different detectives. At all times he denied any involvement in the shooting. During the third interrogation session, which commenced at about 8:40 p. m., a detective told appellant that a witness had identified the appellant as the person who fired the fatal shot. Appellant then asked to speak to his brother, who was in a separate interrogation room. After talking to his brother, the appellant, in a fourth interrogation session, made an oral inculpatory statement at about 9:30 p. m. Almost 9 hours had elapsed since his arrest. The taking of a formal written statement commenced at 11:30 p. m., almost 11 hours after the arrest. The taking of this statement concluded at 12:57 a. m., when appellant signed it. Appellant was arraigned some time later. The precise time of his arraignment is not clear from the record. As a result of appellant’s statement, the police located and recovered the barrel and trigger housing of a .22 caliber rifle.

Appellant’s first inculpatory statement was not made until almost nine hours after his arrest. Under the circumstances of this case, the delay was an unnecessary delay, and the evidence obtained as a result of that delay is inadmissible. Rule 118 (now Rule 130) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, 19 P.S. Appendix; Commonwealth v. Green, 461 Pa. 388, 336 A.2d 594 (1975); Commonwealth v. Cullison, 461 Pa. 301, 336 A.2d 296 (1975); Commonwealth v. Barilak, 460 Pa. 449 [520]*520333 A.2d 859 (1975); Commonwealth v. Sanders, 458 Pa. 281, 327 A.2d 43 (1974); Commonwealth v. Johnson, 459 Pa. 171, 327 A.2d 618 (1974); Commonwealth v. Cherry, 457 Pa. 201, 321 A.2d 611 (1974); Commonwealth v. Hancock, 455 Pa. 583, 317 A.2d 588 (1974); Commonwealth v. Williams, 455 Pa. 569, 319 A.2d 419 (1974); Commonwealth v. Dixon, 454 Pa. 444, 311 A.2d 613 (1973); Commonwealth v. Wayman, 454 Pa. 79, 309 A.2d 784 (1973); Commonwealth v. Dutton, 453 Pa. 547, 307 A.2d 238 (1973); Commonwealth v. Tingle, 451 Pa. 241, 301 A.2d 701 (1973); Commonwealth v. Futch, 447 Pa. 389, 290 A.2d 417 (1972); see Geiger Appeal, 454 Pa. 51, 309 A.2d 559 (1973); Commonwealth v. Peters, 453 Pa. 615, 306 A.2d 901 (1973).

The prosecution does not contend that the delay between appellant’s arrest and arraignment was not an “unnecessary delay”; initially it argues that appellant waived his right to raise the unnecessary delay question on this appeal because he failed to raise it at the pretrial suppression hearing or at trial.

We first note that the issue was considered in the trial court. The court en banc’s opinion denying post-verdict motions clearly indicates that the question of unnecessary delay was considered by it. Because appellant challenged the voluntariness of the confession at all stages of the proceedings in the trial court, his failure to specifically raise the unnecessary delay issue at the pretrial suppression hearing does not preclude its consideration on this appeal. Our review of the record reveals that the suppression hearing was held on September 15, 1971; that the trial was held on December 27, 1971; and that the court en banc hearing was held on April 6, 1972. Commonwealth v. Futch, 447 Pa. 389, 290 A.2d 417 (1972), was decided April 20, 1972, fourteen days after the court en banc hearing. Since appellant’s trial preceded our decision in Futch, appellant has preserved the [521]*521unnecessary delay issue. Commonwealth v. Wayman, 454 Pa. 79, 309 A.2d 784 (1973).

The prosecution next contends that even if appellant’s contention is not considered untimely by this Court, a reading of the record indicates that the confession was not the result of the delay, but was the product of factors apart from the delay (the alleged accusation of a witness that appellant had shot the victim, and the conversation between appellant and his brother). Therefore, the prosecution argues, the confession was not “reasonably related” to any delay. To support this position, the prosecution cites Commonwealth v. Fogan, 449 Pa. 552, 557, 296 A.2d 755, 758 (1972), a case in which we held that an illegal arrest did not render a confession inadmissible if the confession was “obtained by means sufficiently distinguishable [from the initial arrest] to be purged of the primary taint.” In Fogan we said that the accused’s confession was motivated not by the illegal arrest but by “the finger of guilt pointed at him by his fellow gang member.” Id. at 557, 296 A.2d at 758. Fogan is inapposite here; the Futch issue was not raised or considered in Fogan. See also Commonwealth v. Wright, 460 Pa. 247, 332 A.2d 809 (1975).

After determining that a delay existed, our inquiry should focus on whether such delay was unnecessary, whether prejudicial evidence was obtained, and whether such prejudicial evidence was reasonably related to the delay. Commonwealth v. Wayman, 454 Pa. 79, 309 A.2d 784 (1973). In the instant appeal there is no doubt as to the first two points of inquiry. The confession introduced into evidence at appellant’s trial constituted the bulk of the proof against him, and the prosecution does not contend that the delay was necessary. As to the third consideration, it is true that appellant denied involvement in the incident until informed of the witness’s accusation, however, the fact that the accusation may have combined with the unnecessary delay to induce [522]

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Commonwealth v. Doamaral
337 A.2d 273 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
337 A.2d 273, 461 Pa. 517, 1975 Pa. LEXIS 803, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-doamaral-pa-1975.