Commonwealth v. Patterson

940 A.2d 493, 2007 Pa. Super. 404, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4501
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided December 31, 2007·Published·Cited by 377 cases

Opinions

OPINION BY

ANTHONY, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Matthew Patterson, appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on December 17, 2004. Upon review, we affirm. The relevant facts and procedural history follow.

¶2 On January 13, 2004, the Commonwealth charged Appellant with, inter alia, robbery, criminal conspiracy, burglary, carrying a firearm without a license, criminal trespass, and possessing an instrument of crime.1 Appellant filed a timely motion to suppress, which the parties litigated on July 6, 2004. At this hearing, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of a number of witnesses.

¶ 3 The alleged victim, Eric Turner, testified that, on July 24, 2003 at 8 p.m., he hosted three guests at his apartment at 1220 Lindley Avenue in Philadelphia. One of the guests was a young man named Steve. During the visit, the men played video games, and Mr. Turner smoked a blunt. At approximately 11 p.m., the guests departed, and Mr. Turner retired to his living room couch to watch television. Mr. Turner eventually fell asleep on the couch. At approximately 1 a.m., Mr. Turner received a telephone call from Steve asking Mr. Turner to buzz him into the secured apartment building. Believing that Steve wanted to retrieve a wallet, Mr. Turner agreed. When Mr. Turner heard a knock at his door, he opened it, and Steve entered the apartment with two different companions. Mr. Turner testified that he recognized the first man (Appellant) from the neighborhood but did not know the other man.

¶ 4 Upon his arrival, Steve pestered Mr. Turner to give him a ride, and Mr. Turner repeatedly refused due to the late hour. After five minutes passed, Appellant pointed a firearm at Mr. Turner and told him to get down. Appellant eventually allowed Mr. Turner to sit on the couch and held him at gunpoint for two minutes while Steve rummaged through the apartment. [496] Mr. Turner stated that he could see Appellant because he had a light on in an adjoining room. None of the men wore masks. Thereafter, Appellant gave the firearm to Steve and began to search the apartment himself. Appellant gathered some CDs and a Playstation game console and placed them into a book bag. The three men departed with the items. Mr. Turner notified the police and provided a description of the intruders.

¶ 5 The complainant further testified that, on November 30, 2003, he observed Appellant and an unidentified male near a gas station at Broad and Lindley Streets in Philadelphia. Appellant and his companion got into a car which was driven by a third man. Mr. Turner, who was pumping gasoline at the time, followed the vehicle, and contacted police. The vehicle parked in front of a restaurant, and Appellant and his companion went inside. When the police arrived, Mr. Turner, who was standing across the street, informed them that the driver of the vehicle was not involved in the robbery. The police then retrieved Appellant and his companion from the restaurant. Mr. Turner testified that he identified Appellant as a participant in the robbery and told the police that he was unsure about whether the companion was involved. The police arrested both men.

¶ 6 Mr. Turner further testified that, on December 9, 2003, a detective came to his place of employment and showed him a photo array. Mr. Turner identified Appellant as a participant in the robbery. Additionally, Mr. Turner identified Appellant, in open court, as one of the perpetrators. On redirect examination, he confirmed that he had no doubt about Appellant’s participation. N.T..Suppression Hearing, 7/6/04, at 67.

¶ 7 Detective John Geliebter of the Philadelphia Police Department testified that he took a statement from Mr. Turner in the hours following the incident. Detective Geliebter recalled that Mr. Turner identified Steve as the one who first brandished the firearm and noted that Steve was also identified as the gunman in the written statement. The detective admitted, however, that he typed the statement and that he did not ask Mr. Turner to review or sign the statement at the conclusion of the interview.

¶ 8 Detective Stanley Schofield of the Philadelphia Police Department testified that he spoke to Mr. Turner at the precinct following the arrests at the restaurant. Initially, the detective thought that Mr. Turner had identified both men as perpetrators of the robbery. After additional discussion, however, the detective learned that Mr. Turner could only identify one with certainty. During the conversation, the detective tried to ascertain which of the two men Mr. Turner could identify. Eventually, the detective held Appellant’s companion and released Appellant from custody. At the suppression hearing, the detective admitted that he misunderstood Mr. Turner and released the wrong man.

¶ 9 Detective Sekou Kinebrew testified that, in December of 2003, he prepared a photo line-up that contained Appellant’s photograph. The detective testified that Mr. Turner identified Appellant almost immediately from the array.

¶ 10 After argument on the motion to suppress Mr. Turner’s identification, the trial court denied the motion. Thereafter, the parties agreed to incorporate all non-hearsay testimony from the suppression hearing into the trial record, and both sides rested. Based upon the aforementioned evidence, the trial court, sitting as fact finder, convicted Appellant of the aforementioned offenses.

[497] ¶ 11 On December 17, 2004, the trial court sentenced Appellant to five to ten years’ imprisonment for robbery, a concurrent term of five to ten years’ imprisonment for criminal conspiracy, a concurrent term of two to four years’ imprisonment for burglary, a concurrent term of one to two years’ imprisonment for the firearm violation, a concurrent term of one to two years’ imprisonment for criminal trespass, and a concurrent term of one to two years’ imprisonment for possessing an instrument of crime. On December 28, 2004, Appellant filed a motion for reconsideration, which the trial court denied on January 3, 2005.

¶ 12 Appellant filed a notice of appeal on February 2, 2005. On March 9, 2005, the trial court authored an order directing Appellant to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal within fourteen days. Appellant filed a concise statement on March 23, 2005. On May 3, 2005, the trial court drafted an opinion pursuant to Rule 1925(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure.

¶ 13 On January 12, 2006, the trial court appointed new counsel, Mitchell Strutin. On March 20, 2006, new counsel filed an application with our Court in which he asked to supplement the 1925(b) statement filed by prior counsel. On April 12, 2006, our Court granted Appellant’s request, ordered him to file a supplemental concise statement within fourteen days, and directed the trial court to file a supplemental opinion. Appellant’s counsel filed a supplemental 1925(b) statement on April 17, 2006, and the trial court filed a supplemental opinion on March 20, 2007.

¶ 14 In his brief, Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

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Commonwealth v. Patterson, 940 A.2d 493, 2007 Pa. Super. 404, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4501 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

940 A.2d 493 (Commonwealth v. Patterson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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