Commonwealth v. Gross

15 Pa. D. & C.5th 259
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County
DecidedJuly 15, 2010
Docketno. 45 CR 2010
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Pa. D. & C.5th 259 (Commonwealth v. Gross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Gross, 15 Pa. D. & C.5th 259 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

SIBUM, J.,

Defendant has been charged with criminal conspiracy and accomplice liability for providing a firearm to Daniel Autenrieth. On June 7,2009, Autenrieth utilized the weapon to injure Trooper Robert Lombardo and kill Trooper Joshua Miller of the Pennsylvania State Police. Defendant has filed an omnibus pretrial motion seeking a bill of particulars and pretrial discovery. Defendant’s motion also includes a request to dismiss or, in the alternative, transfer this case for improper venue and to avoid prejudicial pretrial publicity. Finally, defendant’s omnibus motion requests a recusal of all judges of the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas or the appointment of an out-of-county judge to hear this matter. We held a hearing on defendant’s motion on May 24, 2010 and granted the parties 30 days to brief their respective positions. The Com[262]*262monwealth and defendant have filed briefs, and we are now prepared to render our decision. We will begin with a review of the salient facts.

Defendant met Autenrieth in 2005 or 2006. Their relationship became romantic in early 2009. On May 4, 2009, Autenrieth’s estranged wife, Susan Autenrieth, filed a petition for a protection from abuse order against Autenrieth in the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas. Both Autenrieth and his estranged wife resided in Northampton County. On that same day, the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas issued a temporary PFA against Autenrieth naming his wife and their three children as protected parties. The temporary PFA prohibited Autenrieth from having any contact with the protected parties and evicted him from the residence in which Wife was residing. The May 4 temporary PFA did not prohibit Autenrieth from possessing firearms, nor did Wife request that he be prohibited from possessing firearms in her petition for a PFA.

At approximately 4 p.m. on May 4,2009, three members of the Northampton County Sheriffs Office went to Autenrieth’s home in order to serve the temporary PFA on Autenrieth and to effectuate the transfer of custody of the parties’ children to Wife. When the sherriff’s deputies arrived at Autenrieth’s residence, defendant was at the home baby-sitting two of Autenrieth’s children. Autenrieth was not present. Deputy Otto of the Northampton County Sheriff’s office served the temporary PFA upon defendant as the adult in charge of Autenrieth’ s residence and advised her that the document was a PFA that prohibited Autenrieth from having contact with his wife and excluded him from wife’s residence. [263]*263Deputy Otto also told defendant — albeit incorrectly— that the temporary PFA prohibited Autenrieth from possessing or owning a weapon. Custody of the children was then transferred to Wife.

On May 18,2009, the Northampton Court of Common Pleas entered a final PFA in favor of Wife and against Autenrieth. The final PFA prohibited Autenrieth, inter alia, from possessing firearms. The final PFA was not served upon defendant.

On May 29, 2009 at approximately 4:30 p.m., defendant obtained a Pennsylvania driver’s license using Autenrieth’s address. Defendant resided in New Jersey with her family, but routinely stayed overnight at Autenrieth’s residence. She obtained the license at a driver licensing center near Autenrieth’s home. Defendant also changed her vehicle insurance to Pennsylvania using Autenrieth’s address, but continued to receive mail at her family’s residence in New Jersey.

Later in the evening on May 29, 2009, defendant and Autenrieth traveled from Autenrieth’s apartment to the Cabela’s store in Flamburg, Berks County, Pennsylvania. While at Cabela’s and in the presence of Autenrieth, defendant purchased a 9 millimeter Taurus handgun. Defendant utilized her Pennsylvania driver’s license to obtain the firearm. Defendant and Autenrieth then returned home to Autenrieth’s residence where Autenrieth instructed defendant on the use of the gun. After doing so, defendant and Autenrieth put the gun into the box in which it came and placed it on a shelf above the washer and dryer in Autenrieth’s house. That was the last time defendant ever saw the gun. Although defendant never saw or utilized the gun again, she was aware that Auten[264]*264rieth had used it. He had fired it while with a friend and thereafter purchased another box of ammunition to replace the ammunition he had used.

On June 7, 2009, the Nazareth Borough Police responded to the report of a domestic disturbance involving a firearm at the home of Autenrieth’s estranged wife. Autenrieth’s wife advised the Nazareth Borough Police that Autenrieth threatened her with a handgun and then fled with the parties’ 9-year-old son prior to police arriving. Nazareth Police attempted to stop Autenrieth’s vehicle while in the Borough of Nazareth, however, Autenrieth refused to pull his vehicle over and began to flee from police at a high rate of speed.

Autenrieth continued to lead police from several municipalities on a 40-mile pursuit traveling over State Route 191 from Northampton County into Monroe County. When Autenrieth entered Monroe County, members of the Pennsylvania State Police, Swiftwater Barracks, joined in the pursuit. The pursuit ended on SR 611 North past SR 423 in Monroe County.

Upon ending the pursuit, two members of the Pennsylvania State Police, Trooper Joshua Miller and Trooper Robert Lombardo, approached the driver’s side of Autenrieth’s vehicle. Both troopers began ordering Autenrieth out of the vehicle but Autenrieth refused. The troopers broke open Autenrieth’s driver side window, at which point Autenrieth produced the 9 mm Taurus handgun that defendant had purchased. Autenrieth fired three times at both Trooper Miller and Trooper Lombardo. Trooper Miller was struck in the right leg and base of his neck. Trooper Lombardo was struck in the left shoul[265]*265der. Both troopers returned fire striking Autenrieth eight times. Trooper Miller and Autenrieth died as a result of their injuries. Trooper Lombardo recovered.

The criminal information filed in the Court of Common Pleas by the Commonwealth charges the defendant with criminal conspiracy (18 Pa.C.S. §903); firearms not to be carried without license (co-conspirator) (18 Pa.C.S. §6106(a)(1)); possession of firearm prohibited (accomplice) (18 Pa.C.S. §6105(a)(l)); andloans on, or lending, giving of firearms prohibited (accomplice) (18 Pa.C.S. §6115(a)).1 The Commonwealth contends that defendant provided Autenrieth with the Taurus handgun despite knowing that Autenrieth was not licensed to carry a firearm and was not permitted to possess a firearm as a result of the protection from abuse order that had been entered against him.

DISCUSSION

In her omnibus motion, defendant requests that the charges filed against her in Monroe County be dismissed, or in the alternative, transferred to Northampton County [266]*266for improper venue. Defendant asserts that no agreement or overt act was committed in Monroe County in connection with the conspiracy charges, nor is it alleged that the firearm was lent or given to Autenrieth in Monroe County. Defendant further asserts that venue is only proper where overt acts occurred in furtherance of — not subsequent to — Autenrieth’s possession of a firearm. As such, defendant argues that Monroe County has no jurisdiction to hear this case. Instead, defendant contends that venue is proper only in Northampton or Berks County.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 Pa. D. & C.5th 259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-gross-pactcomplmonroe-2010.