Commonwealth v. Edwards

426 A.2d 550, 493 Pa. 281, 1981 Pa. LEXIS 753
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 13, 1981
Docket80-1-18
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 426 A.2d 550 (Commonwealth v. Edwards) 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. Edwards, 426 A.2d 550, 493 Pa. 281, 1981 Pa. LEXIS 753 (Pa. 1981).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

O’BRIEN, Chief Justice:

Appellant, Sanford Emmory Edwards, also known as Sanford Henry Edwards, appeals a judgment of sentence of life imprisonment for murder of the first degree imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Indiana County.

Appellant was charged in connection with the death of Edith Morford, who lived in a trailer park in White Township, Indiana County. On February 22, 1979, decedent’s daughter, Cora Ondo, discovered her mother’s dead body, in the trailer. The body had a knife embedded in the chest. A pathologist determined that the stab wound of the chest was the cause of death and that there were other injuries indicating violence, including abdominal stab wounds, a crushed larynx, distention of the rectum, and multiple abrasions and contusions. State troopers who arrived at the scene found empty cans of Stroh’s beer, head and pubic hairs that a forensic chemist found to be consistent with those of appellant, and a shirt that two co-workers identified as belonging to appellant. One of them said he was wearing it the previous day.

[286]*286Commonwealth witnesses placed appellant and decedent at a tavern called the Red Onion on February 21, 1979. Arthur Stumbaugh, who knew them both, testified that he arrived at the tavern between 5:00 and 5:30 p. m. that day and that they were both there. Appellant drove Stumbaugh home at approximately 7:30 p. m., and asked him if he knew decedent. Stumbaugh said he knew her as “Edie.” Appellant asked Stumbaugh if he thought she would go out with him and Stumbaugh said he did not know. Appellant said he would go back and try to talk to her.

Antonio Arroyo, a bartender at the Red Onion, confirmed that appellant drove Stumbaugh home, returned ten to fifteen minutes later, began talking to decedent, and then bought her a drink. Arroyo heard fragments of their conversation, during which they talked about where their cars were parked. Arroyo sold appellant a six-pack of Stroh’s beer and shortly afterward, he noticed appellant and decedent were gone. He did not see them leave and could not say whether they left together.

Margaret Batistelli, a neighbor of decedent, testified she went out that night at approximately 8:30. She saw decedent arrive at her trailer by car with another car following. Batistelli returned between 11:30 and 11:45 and noticed there were no lights on at decedent’s trailer and there was a car being jump-started by another car. She went into her own trailer and heard noises shortly afterwards. She looked out and saw a different car being pushed.

John Georgianni testified that at about the time referred to by Batistelli, he was called by his brother-in-law, who was visiting at the trailer park and whose friend’s car would not start. He further testified that he drove over and jump-started the car. While he was there, he observed decedent’s trailer and saw that there were no lights turned on. He heard screams coming from the trailer and then heard the opening of the door and the footsteps of someone leaving on the opposite side of the trailer from where he was. He testified that it sounded to him as though the person was walking around toward his side and then suddenly changed direction.

[287]*287Richard King and Wanda Johnson testified that they were walking in the vicinity, that they saw appellant in his car by decedent’s trailer, that the car was stuck, and that they pushed it. Their testimony was corroborated by Janet Der-ry, who looked out and saw them from her nearby apartment, after being awakened by noise.

Appellant admitted that he was with decedent in the tavern but denied that he went anywhere else with her. He presented witnesses in an attempt to establish an alibi defense.

Appellant alleges various errors. The first is that the court erred in refusing to sustain his demurrer. Appellant presented evidence after the ruling and having done so, he cannot now question its correctness. We will instead treat his claim as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Ilgenfritz, 466 Pa. 345, 353 A.2d 387 (1976). The evidence is sufficient if it supports the verdict beyond a reasonable doubt when construed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, with all proper inferences drawn favoring the Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Yost, 478 Pa. 327, 386 A.2d 956 (1978). From the Commonwealth’s evidence, as summarized above, it may be inferred that appellant left the tavern with decedent and accompanied her to her trailer, that decedent’s screams were heard from the trailer later that evening, and that appellant left just afterward and was trying to avoid being seen. When these inferences are considered, along with the fact that appellant was positively identified as having been with decedent and that she had been stabbed when she was next seen, it may be further inferred that it was appellant who did the stabbing. We find the evidence to be sufficient.

Appellant argues that the information against him should have been quashed since the information was based on a statute that subjected him to a possible death penalty. Crimes Code, Act of December 6, 1972, P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1311, added by Act of March 26, 1974, P.L. 213, No. 46, § 3, as amended by Act of September 13, 1978, P.L. 756, No. 141, [288]*288§ 1, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 1311. If a defendant receives a death sentence and successfully challenges the validity of the statute under which it is imposed, the proper relief is to modify the sentence, as was done in cases where previous death penalty laws were invalidated. Commonwealth v. Bradley, 449 Pa. 19, 295 A.2d 842 (1972); Commonwealth v. Moody, 476 Pa. 223, 382 A.2d 442 (1977). The convictions themselves were not struck down, nor will we strike down the information in the instant case. The question of the validity of a death penalty statute is moot when no death penalty is imposed.

Appellant asserts several grounds on which he claims to be entitled to a new trial. Some of them relate to possible prejudice on the part of the jury becausé appellant is black and decedent was white.

Appellant claims he should have been allowed an increased number of peremptory challenges. Each side was entitled to twenty challenges. Act of October 7, 1976, P.L. 1089, No. 217, § 1, 19 P.S. § 811a. We hold to the position we took in Commonwealth v. Segers, 460 Pa. 149, 331 A.2d 462 (1975), that a court has no discretion to allow more peremptory challenges than the number provided for by statute.

Appellant next alleges that the prosecution should have been restricted in its challenges to jurors so as to prevent it from excluding blacks on the basis of race. He requested the restriction prior to trial, based on the speculative possibility of prejudice, not on any actual conduct by the prosecution. The trial court noted that there was a black on the jury. There was no showing that the prosecution excluded blacks and appellant is entitled to no relief in the absence of such a showing. Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965). Accord, Commonwealth v.

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Bluebook (online)
426 A.2d 550, 493 Pa. 281, 1981 Pa. LEXIS 753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-edwards-pa-1981.