Commonwealth v. Passarelli

789 A.2d 708, 2001 Pa. Super. 377, 2001 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3530
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 28, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 789 A.2d 708 (Commonwealth v. Passarelli) 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. Passarelli, 789 A.2d 708, 2001 Pa. Super. 377, 2001 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3530 (Pa. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

MUSMANNO, J.

¶ 1 Appellant Jerome Passarelli (“Pas-sarelli”) appeals from the judgment of sentence entered following his conviction of simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child (“EWC”). 1 We affirm.

¶ 2 The pertinent facts of this case are as follows. The minor victim S.P., Passar-elli’s daughter, was 3 months old at the time that her physical injuries were discovered. On January 23, 1997, Karen Passar-elli (“Mother”), the wife of Passarelli and mother of S.P., left her home to run errands. During Mother’s absence, Passar-elli was responsible for S.P.’s care. Upon her return to the home, Mother noticed a bump on the back of S.P.’s head, which she did not have earlier that day. Mother immediately took S.P. to the family physician.

¶ 3 The family physician’s assistant saw S.P. He observed a bump and a cluster of black and blue marks under the child’s arms. Based on these observations, the assistant directed Mother to take S.P. to Tyler Memorial Hospital.

¶4 At Tyler Memorial Hospital, a CT scan of S.P.’s skull was performed, which revealed a possible skull fracture. S.P. was then transported via helicopter to Hershey Medical Center. At Hershey Medical Center, further examination revealed 3 broken ribs, which were in the process of healing, a linear skull fracture at the situs of the “bump,” hemorrhaging *711 in both frontal lobes of the brain and swelling of the brain.

¶ 5 Suspecting child abuse, Hershey Medical Center immediately made referrals to the Wyoming County Human Services Agency and to the Pennsylvania State Police. When interviewed by the Pennsylvania State Police, Passarelli admitted that he shook S.P. once in the past, “but not violently.” During the course of the police investigation, both parents recalled accidental incidents, which they thought might have caused the child’s injuries.

¶ 6 At trial, the Commonwealth presented the expert medical testimony of Dr. Dennis Johnson, a pediatric brain surgeon, Dr. Danielle Boal, a board certified pediatric radiologist who was one of S.P.’s treating physicians, and Dr. Isidore Mihalakis, a forensic pathologist. All three testified as to the cause of S.P.’s injuries and the timing of the injuries. Drs. Boal and Johnson testified that “shaken-impact syndrome” was the mechanism that caused S.P.’s injuries. Dr. Mihalakis testified that blunt impact to the back and/or left side of S.P.’s head, with or without shaking, was the mechanism that caused S.P. to sustain bruising, a skull fracture, and subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages.

¶ 7 At the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief, Passarelli moved for judgment of acquittal, which the trial court denied.

¶ 8 The defense then presented expert medical testimony to rebut the theory that “shaken-impact syndrome” was the mechanism that caused S.P.’s injuries. Specifically, the defense offered expert testimony to support its theory that S.P.’s injuries could not have resulted from shaking alone. Dr. Edward Zurad, a defense medical expert, testified during direct examination that he had conducted numerous physical examinations of S.P. since January 28, 1997, the date of the incident, and that he did not find anything abnormal. Id. at 869-70. Regarding the timing of S.P.’s injuries, Dr. Jan Leetsma, another defense expert, testified that the symptoms or signs of a child who has an impressive fracture may not be immediate, as suggested by the Commonwealth’s experts, and to precisely age and date a skull fracture would be difficult. N.T., 2/21/00-2/29/00, at 788-39, 757-58.

¶ 9 At the conclusion of the evidence, the parties then presented closing arguments. In response to the Commonwealth’s closing argument, Passarelli moved for a mistrial, which the trial court denied.

¶ 10 The jury found Passarelli guilty of simple assault and EWC, and not guilty of the charges of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. Prior to sentencing, Passarelli filed another Motion for judgment of acquittal regarding the grading of the EWC charge. The trial court granted this Motion as to the EWC charge graded as a felony three (“F-3”) but denied this Motion as to the EWC charge graded as a misdemeanor one (“M-l”).

¶ 11 The trial court sentenced Passarelli to a probationary period of 3 years. In addition, the trial court ordered Passarelli to pay a fine in the amount of $500.00 and to perform 100 hours of community service. Passarelli timely filed a post-sentence Motion for new trial challenging the weight and sufficiency of the evidence and the legality of the sentence, which the trial court denied. Thereafter, Passarelli timely filed this appeal.

¶ 12 On appeal, Passarelli asserts the following six issues:

1. The trial court erred in its instruction to the jury, stating that the jury could consider evidence of “rib fractures” when there was no evidence *712 to show that Passarelli caused the injuries.
2. The trial court erred in denying Pas-sarelli’s Motion for mistrial made in response to the prosecutor’s closing argument.
3. The sentence imposed on EWC graded as a M-l is illegal.
4. The Commonwealth failed to prove that the medical opinions on “shaken-impact syndrome” and the timing of the head trauma met the Frye standard.
5. The evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to establish that the injuries were non-accidental and that the defendant caused the injuries.
6. The trial court abused its discretion and committed an error of law in denying Passarelli’s Motion for new trial based upon the weight of the evidence.

See Brief for Appellant at 3-4.

¶ 13 Passarelli contends that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it may consider evidence of rib fractures. N.T., 2/21/00-2/29/00, 1196-97. He argues that the jury could not consider S.P.’s fractured ribs for any purpose. We disagree.

¶ 14 When reviewing jury instructions, the charge must be considered as a whole, and the general effect of the charge controls. Commonwealth v. Gibson, 547 Pa. 71, 91, 688 A.2d 1152, 1162 (1997); Commonwealth v. Myers, 424 Pa.Super. 1, 621 A.2d 1009, 1013 (1993). The trial court has broad discretion in its phrasing of jury instructions so long as the instructions given adequately reflect the law. Gibson, 547 Pa. at 91, 688 A.2d at 1162.

¶ 15 The trial court instructed the jury as follows:

[T]his court has found as a matter of law and as you’ve heard described in closing arguments that the evidence presented in this trial is insufficient with respect to the child’s fractured ribs. In other words, there was no evidence in this court’s view directly linking Passarelli to the causing of the fractured ribs whenever they may have occurred.

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Bluebook (online)
789 A.2d 708, 2001 Pa. Super. 377, 2001 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3530, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-passarelli-pasuperct-2001.