Commonwealth v. Magliocco

806 A.2d 1280, 2002 Pa. Super. 292, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2725
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 11, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 806 A.2d 1280 (Commonwealth v. Magliocco) 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. Magliocco, 806 A.2d 1280, 2002 Pa. Super. 292, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2725 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

OPINION BY

JOHNSON, J.:

¶ 1 Eric J. Magliocco appeals the judgment of sentence imposed following his conviction of Ethnic Intimidation and Possession of an Instrument of Crime (PIC). See 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2710, 907 (respectively). Concerning his conviction of PIC, Maglioc-co contends that the evidence failed to satisfy all of the statutory elements specified by Crimes Code section 907 on the date of his criminal acts. Concerning his conviction for Ethnic Intimidation, Magli-occo contends that the evidence failed to establish his conviction of a predicate offense required by Crimes Code section 2710. For the following reasons, we affirm Magliocco’s PIC conviction but reverse his conviction of Ethnic Intimidation.

¶ 2 This matter arises out of a racially charged incident in the City of Philadelphia between Magliocco and two African-American children. On July 7, 1999, ten-year-old Fatima Smith and her cousin Tamara were walking down the 1300 block of South Carlisle Street. Magliocco, a resident of the neighborhood, arose from his front porch and challenged the two asking, “What are you looking at?” When one of the girls asked him to whom he was speaking Magliocco responded, “you, you black nigger.” Magliocco then disappeared into his house and returned with a baseball bat, which he swung over his head as he continued to berate the girls using both profanity and racial epithets. While still swinging the bat, Magliocco threatened, “I’m going to get you. I’m going to make sure that there are no more niggers who live on this block.” One of the girls, who did in fact live on the 1300 block of Carlisle Street, ran to her house to call the police. Two Philadelphia Police Department officers arrived and observed Magliocco standing on the front steps of his house, waving the bat, and yelling that he was “going to kill every nigger on the block.” When one of the officers, Damian Evans, told Magliocco to drop the bat, Magliocco responded, “I’m not talking to you nigger,” but then dropped the bat in the doorway of his home and walked inside. Police then arrested him.

¶ 3 Following a bench trial, the Honorable Joan A. Brown convicted Magliocco of Ethnic Intimidation and PIC, but acquitted him of terroristic threats. Magliocco filed a “Motion for Extraordinary Relief’ which the court denied, and at a later sentencing hearing the court imposed a sentence of two years’ reporting probation with the condition of mandatory mental health counseling. Magliocco filed this appeal, and in preliminary and supplemental Statements of Matters Complained of on Appeal, challenged the sufficiency of the [1282]*1282evidence to sustain either of his convictions. Magliocco now raises the following questions for our review:

1. Is not the evidence insufficient to sustain the conviction for Possessing Instruments of Crime due to failure to prove that baseball bats are commonly used for criminal purposes?
2. Is not the evidence insufficient to sustain the conviction for Ethnic Intimidation due to failure to prove the “other offense” element of the crime?

Brief for Appellant at 8.

¶ 4 Magliocco’s two questions each raise issues of evidentiary sufficiency. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine “whether, viewing all the evidence admitted at trial, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the trier of fact could have found that each element of the offense[] charged was supported by evidence and inferences sufficient in law to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Jackson, 506 Pa. 469, 485 A.2d 1102, 1103 (1984). Normally, evidence is deemed sufficient to support the underlying convictions if:

there is testimony offered to establish each material element of the crime charged and to prove commission of the offense by the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. The question of credibility is left for the jury and the verdict will not be disturbed if the jury determines the evidence is worthy of belief.

Commonwealth v. Karkaria, 533 Pa. 412, 625 A.2d 1167, 1170 (1993) (citations omitted). The factfinder is free to believe all, part or none of the evidence, and “[t]he facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth ‘need not be absolutely incompatible with the defendant’s innocence.” ’ Commonwealth v. Hodge, 441 Pa.Super. 653, 658 A.2d 386, 387-88 (1995) (quoting Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 472 Pa. 129, 371 A.2d 468, 478 (1977)). We will reverse the resulting verdict on the basis of legal insufficiency only where the testimony “is so inherently unreliable that a verdict based upon it could amount to no more than surmise or conjecture.” Karkaria, 625 A.2d at 1170 (citations omitted).

¶ 5 In support of his first question, Magliocco contends that the evidence adduced at trial failed to satisfy the statutory definition of “instrument of crime” and was therefore insufficient to sustain his conviction of PIC. Brief for Appellant at 7-8 (quoting 18 Pa.C.S. § 907(d)). This is a question of statutory construction for which our standard of review is plenary. See Commonwealth v. Hockenbury, 549 Pa. 527, 701 A.2d 1334, 1336 n. 3 (1997). Magliocco argues that the definition of PIC effective on July 7, 1999, when this incident occurred, recognized as “instruments of crime” only those things “commonly” used for criminal purposes. Brief for Appellant at 7-8. Because the Commonwealth failed to introduce evidence on the commonality with which baseball bats are used in the commission of crime, Magliocco concludes that his conviction cannot be sustained. Id. The trial court concluded that the statutory definition operative on the date of Magliocco’s conduct had been previously amended to delete the requirement of commonality. Trial Court Opinion, 3/2/01, at 5-6. Accordingly, the court concluded that the Commonwealth had in fact adduced sufficient evidence to sustain Magliocco’s conviction of PIC. Trial Court Opinion, 3/2/01, at 6.

¶ 6 Magliocco’s argument requires us to resolve apparent conflict in competing versions of Section 907. Prior to 1995, the Crimes Code defined the crime of PIC as follows:

§ 907. Possessing instruments of crime
[1283]*1283(a) Criminal Instruments generally.— A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses any instrument of crime with intent to employ it criminally.

18 Pa.C.S. § 907(a). The statute then defined “instrument of crime,” in pertinent part, as follows:

(2) anything commonly used for criminal purposes and possessed by the actor under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for lawful uses it may have.

Act of December 6, 1972, P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1.

¶ 7 In 1995, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court applied the foregoing definition to determine the legal sufficiency of evidence to sustain a conviction for PIC where, as here, the defendant used a baseball bat. See Commonwealth v. Ngow, 539 Pa. 294, 652 A.2d 305 (1995) (Filed 1/11/95).

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Bluebook (online)
806 A.2d 1280, 2002 Pa. Super. 292, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-magliocco-pasuperct-2002.