Commonwealth v. McClellan

178 A.3d 874
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 26, 2018
Docket2014 EDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by80 cases

This text of 178 A.3d 874 (Commonwealth v. McClellan) 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. McClellan, 178 A.3d 874 (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinions

ORINION BY

STEVENS, P.J.E.:.

Appellant, Eric McClellan, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, which, sitting as finder of fact in Appellant’s bench trial, convicted him of Persons Not To Possess, Manufacture, Control or Transfer Firearms.1 Herein, Appellant challenges the order denying his suppression motion and contends evidence at trial failed to prove he constructively possessed a handgun recovered from the basement of his family home. We affirm.

On April 24, 2014, Agent Scott Dominick of the Pennsylvania Board of Parole was participating in a LCB/Norristown Police Department sweep of local bars in search of noncompliant and/or absconder parolees, when he saw one of his state parolees, Appellant, exiting a bar at 11:30 p.m. Agent Dominick stopped Appellant for violating two conditions of his parole, one imposing an 8:00 p.m. curfew and the other prohibiting his presence in a drinking establishment. N.T. 11/30/15 at 12-13. Appellant displayed no outward signs of alcohol consumption, but a frisk of his person produced $320 in cash, two cell phones, and a house key. N.T. at 19-20.

On suspicion that Appellant was engaging in other violations at the bar consistent with his history of drug dealing, Agent Dominick obtained permission to search Appellant’s approved residence, his grandmother’s home, from his supervisor, who was on the scene at the time. N.T. at 20. Appellant had, at the outset of his parole, also signed a parole agreement form consenting to warrantless searches of his residence. N.T. at 14-15.

Parole agents searched Appellant’s grandmother’s home while Norristown Police maintained a security presence inside without otherwise participating in or directing the search. N.T. at 21-22. Agent Dominick was familiar with the home, having previously conducted numerous routine field visits there, and he knew Appellant lived with his grandmother, father, and adult sister.2 The parole officer went straight to Appellant’s bedroom and uncovered from underneath his mattress a clear sandwich bag containing a trace amount of cocaine. N.T. at 22-23. A different parole officer went down to the finished basement and discovered a loaded firearm. N.T. at 61-63. Charges were filed.'

On November 30, 2015, Appellant filed motion to suppress, which, after a hearing, the court denied. Appellant’s bench trial ensued on the same day, ending with the court convicting Appellant on the above-mentioned charges.,On March 1, 2016, the court imposed g standard range sentence of five to ten years’ incarceration on the charge of persons not to possess. N.T., 3/1/16, 34-35. After the denial of post-sentence motions, this timely appeal followed.

Appellant presents the following questions for our review:

I. WAS THE EVIDENCE INSUFFICIENT TO ESTABLISH BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT THAT APPELLANT HAD THE POWER TO CONTROL THE FIREARM AND THE INTENT TO EXERCISE THAT CONTROL, WHERE THE FIREARM WAS RECOVERED IN THE BASEMENT OF APPELLANT’S GRANDMOTHER’S HOME AND WHERE DNA TESTING REVEALED THAT MORE THAN ONE PERSON HAD HANDLED THE FIREARM?
II. DID THE SUPPRESSION COURT ERRONEOUSLY DENY . APPELLANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, WHERE THE FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES KNOWN TO THE PAROLE AGENT PRIOR TO THE SEARCH DID NOT ESTABLISH REASONABLE SUSPICION TO BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS CONTRABAND OR OTHER EVIDENCE OF VIOLATIONS OF THE CONDITIONS OF SUPERVISION INSIDE APPELLANT’S RESIDENCE?

Appellant’s brief at 6.

In his first issue, Appellant contends that DNA and circumstantial evidence offered to link him to the loaded handgun found in the basement was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he constructively possessed the gun, an element to the crime of Persons Not to Possess of which he was convicted. We disagree.

Our standard of review of sufficiency claims is well-settled:

A claim challenging the sufficiency of the evidence is a question of law. Evidence will be deemed sufficient to support the verdict when it establishes each material element of the crime charged and the commission thereof by the accused, beyond a reasonable doubt. Where the evidence offered to support the verdict is in contradiction to the physical facts, in contravention to human experience and the laws of nature, then the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law. When reviewing a sufficiency claim[,] the court is required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner giving the prosecution the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the evidence.

Commonwealth v. Widmer, 560 Pa. 308, 744 A.2d 745, 751 (2000) (internal citations omitted).

Furthermore, the trier of fact, in this case the trial court, is free to believe, all, part, or none of the evidence presented when making credibility determinations. Commonwealth v. Beasley, 138 A.3d 39, 45 (Pa.Super. 2016). In deciding a sufficiency of the evidence claim, this court may not reweigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder. Commonwealth v. Williams, 153 A.3d 372, 375 (Pa.Super. 2016).

Illegal possession of a firearm may be established by constructive possession. Commonwealth v. Parker, 847 A.2d 745, 750 (Pa.Super. 2004). With respect to constructive possession, this Court has held:

When contraband is not found on the defendant’s person, the Commonwealth must establish “constructive possession,” that is, the power to control the contraband and the intent to exercise that control. Commonwealth v. Valette, 531 Pa. 384, 613 A.2d 548 (1992). The fact that another person may also have control and access does not eliminate the defendant’s constructive possession.... As with any other element of a crime, constructive possession may be proven by circumstantial evidence. Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 469 A.2d 132 (1983). The requisite knowledge and intent may be inferred from the totality of the circumstances. Commonwealth v. Thompson, 286 Pa.Super. 31, 428 A.2d 223 (1981).

Commonwealth v. Haskins, 450 Pa.Super. 540, 677 A.2d 328, 330 (1996), appeal denied, 547 Pa. 751, 692 A.2d 563 (Pa. 1997). Constructive possession is an inference arising from a set of facts that possession of the contraband was more likely than not. Commonwealth v. Mudrick, 510 Pa. 305, 507 A.2d 1212, 1213 (1986).

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Bluebook (online)
178 A.3d 874, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-mcclellan-pasuperct-2018.