Commonwealth v. Salgado

44 Pa. D. & C.5th 515
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedJanuary 22, 2015
DocketNo. CP-39-CR-1059-2014
StatusPublished

This text of 44 Pa. D. & C.5th 515 (Commonwealth v. Salgado) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Salgado, 44 Pa. D. & C.5th 515 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

FORD, J.,

On October 7, 2014, a jury found defendant/appellant, Victor Salgado, guilty of escape, 18 Pa.C.S. § 5121(a), the only crime with which he was charged in the criminal information. On October 9, 2014,1 sentenced appellant to state confinement for a [517]*517period of not less than fifteen months to not more than thirty-six months.

On October 20, 2014, appellant filed a post-sentence motion which I denied by order dated October 27, 2014. On November 26, 2014, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. In response to an earlier order, appellant filed a “concise statement of matters complained on appeal” (concise statement) on December 22, 2014. Appellant raises two issues in the concise statement, both of which lack merit.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Appellant asserts that “[t]he Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proof to disprove the [d]efendant’s allegations of duress as a defense to the alleged criminal action and, as such, the verdict of the jury was not supported by sufficient evidence....” There was sufficient evidence to support the guilty verdict. The jury considered the defense of duress, but the jury rejected that defense.

What follows is the Superior Court’s explanation of how to review an issue on the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a guilty verdict.

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, [the Superior Court] must determine whether the evidence, and all reasonable inferences deducible from that, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, are sufficient to establish all the elements of the offenses beyond a reasonable doubt.
[518]*518The Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proving every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. The facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth neednotbe absolutely incompatible with the defendant’s innocence, but the question of any doubt is for the fact finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that, as a matter of law, no probability of fact can be drawn from the combined circumstances.
The proper application of this standard requires [the Superior Court] to evaluate the entire trial record, and all evidence actually received, in the aggregate and not as fragments isolated from the totality of the evidence. Our law is ciystal clear that the trier of fact, in passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence presented. The Superior Court may not reweigh the evidence and substitute [its] judgment for that of the finder of fact. If the factfinder reasonably could have determined from the evidence adduced that all of the necessaiy elements of the crime were established, then that evidence will be deemed sufficient to support the verdict.

Commonwealth v. Hopkins, 747 A.2d 910, 913-14 (Pa. Super. 2000) (citations omitted).

The Commonwealth charged appellant with escape. The crimes code definition of escape reads: “A person commits an offense if he unlawfully removes himself from official [519]*519detention or fails to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or limited period.” 18 Pa.C.S. § 5121(a). The Commonwealth alleged that appellant was allowed to leave the Lehigh County Community Corrections Center (CCC), a work release facility, in order to conduct a job search and that appellant intentionally failed to return to the facility. What follows is a summary of the evidence of escape and appellant’s claim of duress.

The parties presented the jury with a stipulation (Exhibit C-9) that appellant was lawfully incarcerated at the CCC on the date of the alleged escape. Timothy Carver, the warden of the CCC, testified that appellant was an inmate at CCC in January and February of 2014. He authenticated Commonwealth Exhibit C-8, appellant’s CCC time card. According to the time card for February 18, 2014, appellant permissibly left the work release facility at 6:30 a.m. to engage in a job search. According to the warden, appellant had to return to CCC by no later than 12:30 p.m. that day. However, there was no return time recorded on the time card. Warden Carver confirmed that appellant failed to return to the facility.

Clifford Knappenberger, the internal affairs director for the Lehigh County Department of Corrections, testified that he was contacted by Warden Carver after appellant failed to return to CCC. Knappenberger then prepared a criminal complaint and arrest warrant for appellant which were signed by district judge Karen Devine.

[520]*520The Commonwealth’s final witness was Matthew Joseph, a deputy in the Lehigh County sheriff’s department. Deputy Joseph testified that he received the arrest warrant for appellant. On March 3, 2014, deputy Joseph received a tip from a Lehigh County Jail official that appellant was at a blood clinic in Allentown. Deputy Joseph went to the clinic and took with him a photograph of the appellant. Appellant was not at the blood clinic. The deputy then began to search the area around the clinic and located appellant in the 1300 block of Wayne Street. Deputy Joseph approached appellant and asked for identification. Appellant gave it and was cooperative. He was taken into custody without incident.

Appellant took the stand in his own defense at trial. He did not contest that he consciously failed to return to CCC. However, he claimed that other inmates at the CCC were threatening violence against him so he left the facility to ensure his safety.

Appellant explained he was an inmate at the main Lehigh County Jail prior to being placed in CCC. He claimed that he was assaulted by several inmates at the jail on January 9,2014. Appellant explained that he wrote to jail staff and expressed a desire to file a private criminal complaint against his attackers. On January 16, 2014, director Knappenberger responded to appellant’s inquiry and provided him with the forms and directions needed to file a private criminal complaint. Appellant admitted that he never filed the complaint because he did not know the names of his attackers.

[521]*521Appellant testified that he was transferred to CCC on January 28, 2014. Appellant stated that, on February 11, 2014, he was confronted by a group of inmates at CCC. Two in the group had box cutters. Some in the group told appellant to leave CCC or he would be attacked. Immediately after the confrontation, appellant filled out an unsigned request form about the threat and placed it under the door of his case manager. He also got a copy of the form to sergeant Douglas Moyer of CCC. Appellant did not reveal to his case manager or sergeant Moyer that he filled out the information on the form. The next day, according to appellant, he saw sergeant Moyer searching the lockers of the inmates who had confronted him. Appellant approached Moyer and told him to search inside a jacket in one of the lockers. Sergeant Moyer did so and he found box cutters there.

Appellant testified that, on February 18, 2014, he was scheduled to leave CCC for a job search. At 4:45 a.m. prior to his leaving CCC, appellant said he was confronted by two CCC inmates in a bathroom.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Commonwealth v. Begley
780 A.2d 605 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. Hopkins
747 A.2d 910 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Kaminski
502 A.2d 1281 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Commonwealth v. Brown
460 A.2d 1155 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Hayes
209 A.2d 38 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1965)
Commonwealth v. Brothers
597 A.2d 1164 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
44 Pa. D. & C.5th 515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-salgado-pactcompllehigh-2015.