Commonwealth v. Odeniyi

11 Pa. D. & C.5th 270
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedFebruary 22, 2010
Docketnos. 804-2005, 805-2005
StatusPublished

This text of 11 Pa. D. & C.5th 270 (Commonwealth v. Odeniyi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Odeniyi, 11 Pa. D. & C.5th 270 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

CEPPARULO, J,

I. INTRODUCTION

The Commonwealth appeals to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from this court’s grant of Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) relief to defendant Olusegun Sege Odeniyi based on a of violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602 (1966). Defendant also appeals to the Superior Court based on this court’s denial of defendant’s remaining PCRA claims.

[272]*272II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A few minutes before 4 a.m., Thursday, November 11, 2004, officers from Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, responded to the 5700 block of Mitchell Road to a report of multiple gunshots in the Bloomsdale section of Bristol Township. Upon arrival, the officers discovered seven .45 caliber shell casings in the street, intermixed with shards of broken vehicle glass.

Shortly thereafter, a different police officer observed a white vehicle driving nearby the scene of the shooting with a shattered rear window. The officer stopped the vehicle and interviewed the occupants. Asa Brewington was the driver, Samantha Weismann, a female juvenile, was in the front passenger seat, and Taureen Jewett was in the rear passenger seat. Weisman stated that she was in the vehicle with Brewington, when Jewett walked up to the car and hastily dumped several items in her lap, including a small black bag, a digital scale, a cell phone and keys. Soon afterwards, while Weismann was still in the car, a fist fight between Brewington and defendant Olusegun Sege Odeniyi was broken up outside of the vehicle by Jewett. After the fight ended, Weismann overheard Jewett and Brewington laughing at defendant because defendant said he was going home to get a gun and would return.

Brewington, Jewett and Weismann then left the area, but returned later that night. As they drove on Mitchell Road near its intersection with Airacobra Street, they were stopped and warned that defendant was back in the [273]*273neighborhood. As Brewington, Jewett and Weismann began to drive down the street, a series of loud gunshots rang out. Their rear window suddenly shattered and Weismann felt a bullet travel through her hair and out the passenger window to her immediate right.

After the investigatory police stop of Brewington’s vehicle, several slugs were recovered from inside the vehicle, while another bullet was recovered from a nearby home, where it was lodged in a wall of a bedroom near a wheelchair.

At or about the time of the Bristol police stop, Officer Brian Detrick of Falls Township noticed a late model Buick station wagon speeding along nearby Mill Creek Road. Officer Detrick followed the vehicle with his overhead lights on, but the vehicle continued speeding through residential areas, disregarding traffic signs and almost hitting parked vehicles. Eventually defendant jumped from his moving vehicle and fled into a nearby wetlands. A police dog was used to track and apprehend defendant in the wetland area. Defendant was brought to Frankford Bucks Hospital to treat a dog bite on his shoulder and his hypothermia. After his release from the hospital several hours later, defendant was taken to the Falls Township Police Station.

At approximately 8:15 a.m. on that same morning, an employee of Waste Management Inc. turned in a handgun he found on a street in the North Park section of Falls Township, the same street and location where the vehicle chase with defendant occurred. Investigation determined that the spent shell casings on the ground at Mitchell [274]*274Road and the bullets recovered from inside Brewington’s vehicle were fired from this same weapon.

Although initially uncooperative, the victims in this case eventually identified defendant as the person who shot at them. Brewington testified that he and defendant initially got into a verbal argument, which led to a fist fight. Notes of testimony, (N.T.) May 10, 2005 p. 126. Brewington recalled defendant saying that he was “going to get my gun”. Id. at 129. Brewington was also shown a photographic lineup wherein he identified defendant as the shooter. Id. at 139.

At trial, Jewett was an uncooperative and hostile witness, but he did corroborate the individuals in the vehicle and his presence in the backseat during the shooting. Id. at 84-94. Jewett previously identified defendant as the shooter in a photo lineup, but at trial he denied knowing why the identification was made. Id. at 96. Jewett acknowledged his prior statement to police identifying defendant as the shooter. He testified at trial, however, that he was unable to identify the shooter the night of the shooting.

Weismann, a 16-year-old female juvenile, provided the clearest trial testimony. She indicated that she was in the vehicle during the initial fight between Brewington and defendant. Id. at 173. Weismann also indicated that when Jewett and Brewington returned to the vehicle, they were joking about defendant’s claim that he was going to get a gun. Id. at 174. Weismann also testified that within seconds of being warned that defendant had returned to the area, shots were fired at their vehicle, shattering their rear window. Id. at 178-80. Weismann [275]*275further testified that as the glass shattered around her, she felt a bullet fly through her hair, and explode through the passenger side window next to her head. Id. at 181-82.

Defendant was arrested on November 11, 2004 and charged in Information 0805-2005 with attempted murder,1 six counts of aggravated assault,2 six counts of simple assault,3 three counts of recklessly endangering another person,4 and one count of disorderly conduct.5 On Information 0804-2005, defendant was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police officer,6 recklessly endangering another person,7 disorderly conduct8 and three related vehicular summary offenses.

On May 12, 2005, after a three-day jury trial on both informations, which had been consolidated for trial, defendant was found guilty of all charges, except for two counts of aggravated assault. On September 2,2005, on Information 0805-2005 defendant was sentenced to a term of incarceration of not less than seven and one-half, nor more than 15 years on the attempted murder charge and two consecutive sentences of not less than one, nor more than 10 years incarceration on two counts of aggravated assault. On Information 0804-2005, defendant was sentenced to a concurrent term of not less than one, [276]*276nor more than two years of incarceration on the fleeing and eluding count. No further penalty was imposed on the remaining counts of either criminal information.

On September 30,2005, defendant filed a direct appeal challenging the discretionary aspects of his sentence. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed this court’s judgment of sentence on September 14, 2006. On November 27,2006, defendant filed his first Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) petition seeking a nunc pro tunc petition for allowance of appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. On February 1, 2007, defendant’s first PCRA was granted and defendant filed his petition for allowance of appeal on March 23, 2007.

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Bluebook (online)
11 Pa. D. & C.5th 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-odeniyi-pactcomplbucks-2010.