Commonwealth v. Duffy

832 A.2d 1132, 2003 Pa. Super. 341, 2003 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3155
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 16, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by121 cases

This text of 832 A.2d 1132 (Commonwealth v. Duffy) 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. Duffy, 832 A.2d 1132, 2003 Pa. Super. 341, 2003 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3155 (Pa. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION BY

LALLY-GREEN, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Edward Duffy, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on June 15, 2001. We affirm.

¶ 2 The trial court stated the facts as follows:

On January 23, 2001, [AJppellant, Edward Duffy, was found guilty following a *? bench trial before this court of sexual assault, 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§ ] 8124.1, statutory sexual' assault, 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§ ] 3122.1, and corrupting the morals of a minor, 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§ ] 6301. The evidence presented at trial established that in the summer of 1995 [Appellant], age 19, met the victim, age 14, at the Franklin Mills Mall. On the day of the incident [Appellant’s] sister drove [Appellant] and [the] victim to [Appellant’s] home on Morrell Avenue in the County of Philadelphia. [Appellant] and [the] victim went into a bedroom of the house, where [Appellant] forcibly had sexual intercourse with the victim.
On June 15, 2001 the trial court sentenced [Appellant] to four to ten years in prison for the sexual assault conviction. [2] [Appellant was further sentenced to a consecutive term of five years probation on the statutory sexual assault conviction and another consecutive term of one year probation on the corrupting the morals of a minor conviction.] This appeal was filed on September 8, 2002. [3] [Appellant] now raises four issues on appeal.

Trial Court Opinion, 11/18/02, at 1-2 (footnote 1 omitted).

¶ 3 Appellant presents four issues for our review:

I. Did the prosecutor prejudice the court’s neutrality with unsubstantiated allegations of Appellant having sex in the ladies’ room with his girlfriend during trial and unsubstantiated allegations of other rapes committed by Appellant?
II. Did the trial court err by failing to colloquy Appellant regarding his right to testify at trial?
III. Did the trial court err in failing to merge Appellant’s sentences?
IV. Was trial counsel ineffective for failing to object to Appellant being • charged with sexual assault, a crime that the prosecutor did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt was in effect at the time Appellant is alleged to have committed the sexual assault, and, was counsel ineffective for his failure to object to Appellant being charged with a current version of statutory sexual assault instead of the one that was in effective prior to May 31, 1995?

Appellant’s Brief at 2.

¶ 4 Before we may proceed with an examination of Appellant’s issues, we must first determine whether the issues are properly before us. An appellant must file a Concise Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal when ordered to do so by the trial court. Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). Any issue not raised in the Concise Statement will be deemed waived. Commonwealth v. Lord, 553 Pa. 415, 719 A.2d 306, 309 (1998).

¶ 5 Here, Appellant filed a Concise Statement raising Jour issues to the trial court on September 13, 2002. 1 While two *1136 of the four issues presented in the Concise Statement were not raised to this Court in Appellant’s brief, two of the four issues raised in his brief were not included in his Concise Statement. These two issues not included in the Concise Statement are Appellant’s claim regarding merger and his claim of trial counsel ineffectiveness. Since Appellant failed to include his allegation of trial counsel ineffectiveness in his Concise Statement, the issue is waived. 2 Lord.

¶ 6 Appellant’s merger claim is not waived. A claim that crimes should have merged for sentencing purposes challenges the legality of a sentence, which cannot be waived. Commonwealth v. Kitchen, 814 A.2d 209, 214-215 (Pa.Super.2002). Thus, Lord does not preclude our review of this issue.

¶ 7 We now proceed to examine the merits of Appellant’s issues that are properly before us. First, Appellant argues that the prosecutor committed misconduct when he elicited testimony from its witness, Detective Francis Erickson, concerning unrelated criminal activity. Also, Appellant alleges that the prosecutor and court staff negated the trial court’s neutrality by informing the trial court that Appellant and his girlfriend had engaged in intercourse during the trial in a courthouse bathroom.

¶ 8 First, we address whether Appellant’s claim regarding testimony of unrelated criminal activity is waived. Issues not raised to the trial court are waived and cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. Pa.R.A.P. 302(a). “In order to preserve an issue for review, a party must make a timely and specific objection.” Commonwealth v. Brown, 701 A.2d 252, 254 (Pa.Super.1997). Also, an appellant may not raise a new theory for an objection made at trial on his appeal. Commonwealth v. Pearson, 454 Pa.Super. 313, 685 A.2d 551, 555 (1996).

¶ 9 Here, the record reflects that Detective Erickson testified that he came into contact with the victim after speaking with another complainant about a separate incident. N.T., 1/18/01, at 60-61. Appellant’s counsel objected to the testimony without stating a reason. Id. at 61. After the Commonwealth addressed the general objection, the trial court admitted the testimony. Id. Appellant’s counsel made no other objections to the detective’s testimony and did not cross-examine the detective. Id. at 61-64. Although Appellant’s counsel made a timely objection to the detective’s testimony, he failed to make a specific objection. Since Appellant did not argue to the trial court that the testimony was inadmissible because it referenced unrelated criminal activity, this issue is waived. Pearson.

¶ 10 Second, we address whether the Commonwealth committed prosecutorial misconduct by advising the trial court prior to rendering of the verdict that Appellant engaged in sexual activity with his *1137 girlfriend in the courthouse bathroom during trial. Prosecutorial misconduct occurs when the effect of the prosecutor’s comments would be to prejudice the trier of fact, forming in its mind fixed bias and hostility toward the defendant so that it could not weigh the evidence objectively and render a true verdict. Commonwealth v. Randall, 758 A.2d 669, 679 (Pa.Super.2000). The trial court noted in its opinion that the Commonwealth did not present this evidence until after the verdict had been rendered. Trial Court Opinion, 11/19/02, at 3.

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Bluebook (online)
832 A.2d 1132, 2003 Pa. Super. 341, 2003 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-duffy-pasuperct-2003.