Commonwealth v. Krause

18 Pa. D. & C.5th 449
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedOctober 27, 2010
Docketnos. 3984/2009 and 5428/2008
StatusPublished

This text of 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Commonwealth v. Krause) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Krause, 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

DANTOS, J,

Defendant, Terry Lee Krause, has filed an appeal from this court’s order of August 23, 2010, which denied the defendant’s post sentence motions. Accordingly, we are issuing this opinion pursuant to the provisions of Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925.

The relevant facts are as follows: On July 1,2010, after a trial, a jury found the defendant guilty of the crimes of stalking (18 Pa. C.S.A. § 2709.1(a)(1)) and terroristic threats (18 Pa. C.S.A. § 2706(e)). Thereafter on August 11, 2010, this court sentenced the defendant to a term of state imprisonment of not less than one (1) year nor more than two (2) years on the charge of terroristic threats. On the same date, the defendant was sentenced to a term of state imprisonment of not less than two (2) years nor more than five (5) years on the charge of stalking, consecutive to the sentence imposed on the charge of stalking. The sentences imposed were beyond the aggravated range of the sentencing guidelines, but below the statutory mínimums and máximums. Thereafter, on August 17, 2010, the defendant filed a motion for post sentence relief [451]*451pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 720. This motion was denied by this court on August 23, 2010. Defendant’s within appeal followed on September 3, 2010.

On September 16, 2010, this court instructed the defendant to file of record and serve upon this court a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal no later than October 7, 2010, in accordance with Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b). Defendant complied with this order. In his concise statement of errors complained of on appeal, the defendant asserts that: (1) this court committed an error of law and/or an abuse of discretion in sentencing the defendant for the crimes of terroristic threats and harassment [sic]1; (2) the sentence was excessively harsh; and (3) this court erred in consolidating the within two separate criminal cases for trial. We cannot agree with the defendant’s assertions.

Challenging the Sufficiency of the Evidence

The defendant asserts that this court committed an error of law and/or an abuse of discretion in sentencing the defendant for the crimes of terroristic threats and stalking. While this allegation is vague, and amounts to only a bald assertion, this court will address a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence in an abundance of caution.

A claim challenging the sufficiency of the evidence is a question of law which asserts that there is insufficient evidence to support at least one material element of the crime for which the defendant was convicted. [452]*452Commonwealth v. Lyons, 833 A.2d 245, 258 (Pa. Super. 2003). The standard for reviewing sufficiency challenges was explained in the following manner by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania:

The standard we apply in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether viewing all the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence to enable the fact-finder to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Taylor, 831 A.2d 661, 663 (Pa. Super. 2003), quoting Commonwealth v. DiStefano, 782 A.2d 574, 582 (Pa. Super. 2001).

In addition, the facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth need not preclude every possibility of innocence. Commonwealth v. Hunzer, 868 A.2d 498, 505 (Pa. Super. 2005). Any doubts regarding a defendant’s guilt are properly resolved by the finder of fact unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that, as a matter of law, no probability of fact may be drawn from the combined circumstances. Id. Finally, the trier of fact, while passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free to believe all, part or none of the evidence. Id. If the finder of fact reasonably could have determined from the evidence adduced that all of the necessary elements of the crime were established, then the evidence will be deemed sufficient to support the verdict. Id. at 506.

A “person commits the crime of terroristic threats if the person communicates, either directly or indirectly, a threat to commit any crime of violence with intent to terrorize another.” 18 Pa. C.S.A. §2706(a)(l). Moreover, as used in this section, the term “communicates” means [453]*453to convey “in person or by written or electronic means, including telephone, electronic mail, Internet, facsimile, telex and similar transmissions.” 18 Pa. C.S.A. §2706(e).

Furthermore, a “person commits the crime of stalking when the person engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts toward another person, including following the person without proper authority, under circumstances which demonstrate either an intent to place such other person in reasonable fear of bodily injury or to cause substantial emotional distress to such other person.” 18 Pa. C.S.A. §2709.1(a)(1).

In the instant case, the evidence established that Jamie Krause was married to the defendant, Terry Lee Krause, for sixteen (16) years when she filed for divorce in July of 2008. Despite having filed for divorce, Jamie Krause and the defendant continued to live in the marital residence located at 4561 Scheidys Road, North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. (C. Ex. 4). However, after being served with the complaint in divorce, the defendant would not verbally communicate with Jamie Krause. The only means of communication was through a dry erase white board on the kitchen counter. The defendant left messages such as, “Good luck, this is just the beginning,” “Good luck, you are going to need it” and profanities. (C. Ex. 5; C. Ex. 6).

Not only did the defendant leave such written messages, but in October of 2008, the defendant pushed a television in front of the door to block Jamie Krause’s ingress into the residence. Additionally, on October 26, 2008, when Jamie Krause returned home she observed a Bursa Thunder 380 pistol in a box on the kitchen counter with bullets. (C. Ex. 1; C. Ex. 2) The next morning, after [454]*454the defendant left the residence, the handgun and bullets were gone. Upon the defendant’s return to the marital residence that night at approximately 10:00 p.m., the pistol (without the box) and the bullets were again left on the kitchen counter. (C. Ex. 3)

Chris Depremio, defendant’s friend and co-worker at the Faulkner dealership located on Stoke Park Road in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, spoke with the defendant on multiple occasions with regards to the defendant’s impending divorce. In September of 2008, the defendant told Mr. Depremio that his will was drafted in such a way that all of the marital assets would go to the surviving spouse, and upon the surviving spouse’s death, to either his daughter or Jamie Krause’s niece. The defendant then stated that it would be easier to shoot his estranged wife to inherit her share of the marital property, and then shoot himself, thereby leaving his assets to his daughter. In response, Mr. Depremio asked the defendant, “You would not do that?” The defendant did not verbally respond to this inquiry.

A couple of weeks after this conversation occurred, Mr. Depremio received a telephone call from the defendant. The defendant told him that he had purchased a gun at Cabela’s2

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Bluebook (online)
18 Pa. D. & C.5th 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-krause-pactcompllehigh-2010.