Commonwealth v. Martell

452 A.2d 873, 307 Pa. Super. 1, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5713
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 19, 1982
Docket162
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 452 A.2d 873 (Commonwealth v. Martell) 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. Martell, 452 A.2d 873, 307 Pa. Super. 1, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5713 (Pa. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinions

VAN der VOORT, Judge:

Appellant was found guilty of escape, conspiracy to commit escape, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of a motor vehicle by the court sitting non-jury.1 The charges arose out of an incident on February 25, 1980, when McKee overpowered the night matron at the Mercer County Juvenile Court Center, locked her into a room, and escaped with five other juveniles, including appellant, Martell by taking the matron’s car. Appellant was tried together with codefendant McKee. Appellant Martell raises five issues on this appeal; we will address them seriatim.

[4]*4I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ADJUDGING THE APPELLANT GUILTY OF CRIMINAL ESCAPE AND CONSPIRACY TO ESCAPE IN THAT THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH FAILED TO SHOW THAT THE APPELLANT WAS UNDER OFFICIAL DETENTION AS IS REQUIRED BY THE STATUTE?

Escape is defined by the Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S. § 5121(a) as:

Escape—a person commits an offense if he unlawfully removes himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or limited period.

Subsection (e) further defines official detention as:

Definition—as used in this section, the phrase “official detention” means arrest, detention in any facility for custody of persons, under charge or conviction of crime or alleged or found to be delinquent, detention for extradition or deportation, or any other detention for law enforcement purposes; but the phrase does not include supervision of probation, parole, or constraint incidental to release on bail.

Appellant cites our decision in Commonwealth v. Markle, 245 Pa. Superior Ct. 108, 113, 369 A.2d 317, 319 (1976), where we said, that: “In order to prove the charge against appellant of attempted escape, the Commonwealth had to prove that appellant was held in ‘official detention’ ... and went on to say that in the Markle case: “the jury or judge has a right to know the reason for which the defendant is being held .... ”

In the present case the transcript of the non-jury trial before Judge Mannix does not contain specific evidence as to the precise circumstances and reasons for appellant’s detention in the Mercer Juvenile Court Center, or, for that matter precisely what was the Juvenile Court Center. There appears to be some merit to appellant’s assertion. In Com[5]*5monwealth v. Feick, 294 Pa. Superior Ct. 110, 439 A.2d 774 (1982) and In the Interest of Tasseing H., 281 Pa. Superior Ct. 400, 422 A.2d 530 (1980) this court held that leaving a non-secure shelter facility, did not make a merely dependent child an escapee under the Crimes Code. Accordingly if appellant had not been adjudicated a delinquent or was not awaiting a delinquency hearing then he could not have attempted an escape within the meaning of the Crimes Code.

The trial court, in its opinion, took note of Judge Stranahan’s findings of fact that appellant Martell had been adjudicated delinquent and was awaiting transfer to another facility at the time of the alleged escape. Courts may take judicial notice of the record and prior proceedings in the case in which they are currently involved. Wagner’s Appeal, 143 Pa. Superior Ct. 407, 17 A.2d 662 (1940). See also, Wharton’s Criminal Evidence, § 63 (13 Ed. 1972) and 9 Wigmore Evidence § 2579 (Chadbourn rev. 1981). At the same time a court may not support an adjudication of guilt with evidence not part of the trial record. Commonwealth v. Wasiuta, 280 Pa. Superior Ct. 256, 421 A.2d 710 (1980).2

The Commonwealth is however also entitled to any reasonable inferences which may arise from the evidence presented. Commonwealth v. Markle, supra. The testimony elicited at trial demonstrates that the juveniles at the Mercer County Juvenile Center were under secured supervision. They were locked in their rooms or cells at night and any exit to the outside world was barred by locked doors. Furthermore, arrangements had been made with various police authorities for a periodic check-in by the Center’s personnel to insure that no incidents would arise without the authorities being notified. The nature of this security is demonstrated by the fact that the juveniles had engaged in a forcible escape and did not merely walk out or run away as [6]*6the case was in Feick, supra, and Interest of Tasseing H., supra.

We must also look to the legislatively created scheme for housing children who come under the supervision of the juvenile court. A child alleged to be delinquent may be housed in one of four alternate placement environments, including a detention center. 42 Pa.C.S. § 6327(a). A dependent child may be housed in one of three of the same placements as a delinquent child, but may not be sent to a detention center. Id. (e). The legislature has further defined a “shelter care”, as one of the three available options for a dependent child, as a physically unrestricted facility. Id. § 6302. A similar statutory definition has not been provided for a “detention center.” Nonetheless the courts and others involved in the placement of dependent and delinquent children have used the unrestricted/secure dichotomy to distinguish a shelter facility from a detention facility. For an example, see, Interest of Tasseing, supra.

With the above in mind we find that a fact-finder could reasonably infer that appellant escaped from “official detention”. Throughout the questioning of the various witnesses frequent references were made without objection to the Mercer County Juvenile Center as a detention center. (N.T., pp. 2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 20, 27, 28, 30, 34, 35, 36, 44, 45 and 46). As only juveniles petitioned to be delinquent or those actually found to be delinquent, may be housed in a detention center, the court could properly assume that appellant was under official detention for law enforcement purposes.

II. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ADJUDGING THE APPELLANT GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT AN ESCAPE IN THAT THE COMMONWEALTH FAILED TO SHOW THAT THE APPELLANT ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH ANOTHER TO ESCAPE AND THERE WAS FAILURE TO SHOW AN OVERT ACT IN FURTHERANCE OF THE CONSPIRACY?

[7]*7The Commonwealth’s evidence did not explicitly demonstrate that appellant had entered into agreement prior to the escape. A prosecution witness, one of the other escapee-detainees testified that he was unsure of appellant-Martell’s participation in the planning stage of the scheme. (N.T., pp. 39, 48).

While a conviction for conspiracy may not rest on mere presence at the scene of the crime, with knowledge that a crime is being committed, a conspiracy may be inferred from the relationship, conduct, and circumstances of the parties. Commonwealth v. Dolfi, 483 Pa. 266, 396 A.2d 635 (1979); Commonwealth v. Knox, 273 Pa. Superior Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
452 A.2d 873, 307 Pa. Super. 1, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-martell-pasuperct-1982.