Commonwealth v. Johnson

920 A.2d 873, 2007 Pa. Super. 69, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 314, 2007 WL 730271
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 12, 2007·No. 1158 EDA 2005·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinions

OPINION BY STEVENS, J.:

¶ 1 Following a waiver trial, Appellant Omar Johnson was convicted of Possession with the Intent to Deliver1 and Criminal Conspiracy2 on February 15, 2005. Appellant appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on March 14, 2005, at which time Appellant was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of three (3) years to six (6) years in prison which was to be followed by one year of probation.3 We affirm.

¶ 2 The salient facts and procedural history are as follows: Officer Rich Gramlich testified that on June 16, 2004, he was working in the Narcotics Field Unit in Philadelphia and came in contact with Appellant at approximately 2:20 p.m.4 Officer Gramlich had contacted Appellant earlier via telephone and requested a bundle of party brand heroin and three oxycontin-40s. Appellant instructed Officer Gram-lich to come to the corner of Seventh Street and Girard Avenue in Philadelphia to complete the transaction.

¶ 3 When he arrived at the 600 block of Girard Avenue in an unmarked police car, Officer Gramlich met with Appellant and asked him to enter his vehicle. Once Appellant got inside the front passenger side of the vehicle, Officer Gramlich asked him “for three oxy-40s and a bundle of party heroin.” Appellant asked Officer Gramlich to wait and then exited the vehicle after which he went to speak to another male in a nearby doughnut shop. The men then proceeded to a bar across the street from where Officer Gramlich was seated, and motioned for someone to join them.

¶ 4 A man later identified as Raheem Stoner, another unknown black male, and Appellant sat inside a green Chevrolet Lu-mina for less than one minute, after which Appellant exited the vehicle and returned to Officer Gramlich and handed him eleven (11) packets of heroin stamped “party” and two oxycontin pills (120 milligrams total) in exchange for $180.00 in prerecorded buy-money. Having completed the transaction, Appellant returned to the Chevrolet, and Officer Gramlich left the area. A back-up officer observed Appellant hand the money to Mr. Stoner. Officer Gram-lich, certified in drug testing, tested one packet of the eleven and determined it tested positive for the presence of heroin.

¶ 5 Officer Gramlich came in contact with Appellant for a second time on June 30, 2004, after the former had called the latter and scheduled another drug purchase. Appellant once again directed Officer Gramlich to the area of Seventh Street [876] and Girard Avenue where the two met. Officer Gramlich requested the same quantity of drugs as he had the prior time, but Appellant noted it may be difficult to obtain three oxyeontin pills at that time of the day.

¶ 6 Appellant entered the bar on the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Girard Avenue and remained there for less than two minutes before emerging and handing Officer Gramlich one eighty milligram oxyeontin pill in exchange for $50.00. After completing this part of the transaction, Appellant left the area in a gold, Mercury Topaz and was followed by backup officers until he met an unknown black male. The unknown individual and Appellant engaged in a brief conversation, after which the former handed the latter an object. When he returned to Officer Gramlich, Appellant admonished the Officer for not calling ahead with his order and then accepted $120.00 in exchange for a bundle of thirteen (13) packets of heroin stamped “polo” which he pulled from his sock. Officer Gramlich tested one packet from this bundle and once again found the contents to be heroin.

¶ 7 On July 6, 2004, Officer Gramlich’s investigation continued when he again called Appellant and scheduled a third narcotics purchase for one bundle of heroin and one oxy eighty milligram pill. When Officer Gramlich arrived at the intersection of Seventh Street and Girard Avenue, Appellant entered his unmarked car and, as before, gave Officer Gramlich a bundle containing twelve (12) packs of heroin which were marked “check due.” A later test of one packet from the bundle rendered a positive result for heroin.

¶ 8 Officer Gramlich asked Appellant if he could purchase another bundle, because he was hoping this purchase might reveal a bigger source. Appellant exited the vehicle to make a phone call, and Officer Gramlich overheard Appellant request “one juan.” Appellant re-entered Officer Gramlieh’s vehicle and instructed him to drive north on Seventh Street. When they reached the intersection of Seventh and Master Streets, Appellant asked Officer Gramlich to pull over and stop the vehicle.

¶ 9 Officer Gramlich parked his car, and Appellant exited his vehicle and immediately proceeded to a gold Buick, operated by William Wilson. Mr. Wilson exited the vehicle, shook hands with Appellant and engaged him in conversation. Mr. Wilson then reached into the front passenger side of the Buick, retrieved something and handed the object to Appellant. Appellant returned to Officer Gramlich’s car and handed him one bundle of heroin containing thirteen (13) packets stamped “new era” in exchange for $120.00. As had been the case each time before, Officer Gram-lich later tested a packet from this bundle which was positive for heroin.

¶ 10 Before leaving the area, Officer Gramlich observed Appellant reach into his pocket, pull out additional currency, and count the entire wad of cash as he walked back to Mr. Wilson. Appellant handed some money to Mr. Wilson, shook his hand, and returned to Officer Gram-lich’s vehicle. The pair returned to the laundromat, after which Officer Gramlich notified his back-up officers to arrest Appellant. Both Appellant and Mr. Wilson were arrested. A later search of the Buick pursuant to a warrant revealed another bundle of heroin containing twelve (12) packets marked “riew era.”

¶ 11 Officer Renee Russell testified that based upon information she obtained from Officer Gramlich, she placed Mr. Wilson under arrest on July 6, 2004. At that time, she recovered $509.00 of United States currency, along with $80.00 prerecorded buy-money, a cell phone and the [877] keys to a Buiek Park Avenue by which Mr. Wilson was standing.

¶ 12 Officer Kevin Keys testified on July 6, 2004, he, along with Officer Starling, arrested Appellant. At that time, Officer Keys confiscated $140.00 in prerecorded buy-money, along with an additional $833.00 and two cell phones. One of the cell phones rang when Officer Gramlich called the number he had been utilizing to contact Appellant.

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Commonwealth v. Johnson, 920 A.2d 873, 2007 Pa. Super. 69, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 314, 2007 WL 730271 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

920 A.2d 873 (Commonwealth v. Johnson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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