Commonwealth v. Talbert

129 A.3d 536, 2015 Pa. Super. 269, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 837, 2015 WL 9307005
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 22, 2015
Docket719 EDA 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by430 cases

This text of 129 A.3d 536 (Commonwealth v. Talbert) 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. Talbert, 129 A.3d 536, 2015 Pa. Super. 269, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 837, 2015 WL 9307005 (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION BY

MUSMANNO, J.:.

Zaiee Talbert (“Talbert”) appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed following his convictions for-two counts each of murder of the first degree and conspiracy. 1 We affirm..

On March 12, -2012, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Officer Timothy Stephan (“Officer Stephan”) responded to a call reporting gunshots. After arriving at the'scene, 'Officer Stephan found an all-terrain vehicle (“ATV”) next to a parked van. Officer Stephan found 17-year-old Dexter Bowie (“Bowie”) and 18-year-old Jonathan Stokely (“Stokely”), one on either side of the van, both of whom were unconscious and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Stokely was pronounced dead at the scene. Bowie was transported to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:24 p.m.

Dr. Samuel Gulino (“Dr. Gulino”), Chief Medical Examiner of Philadelphia County, ruled each death a homicide. Bowie suffered 13 gunshot wounds to the head, back, buttock, chest, abdomen, arm, thigh and foot, which caused injury .to his intestine, liver and lung. Stokely suffered at least 22 gunshot wounds, 15 of which were to the legs, with others to the back, abdomen, buttock and lung. Eyewitnesses identified Talbert and Christopher Lloyd Butler,(“Butler”) as the shooters. 2

Talbert and Butler were arrested, and each was charged with two counts of murder and related charges. 3 In September 2012, the Commonwealth filed a Pennsyl *538 vania Rule of Criminal Procedure 802 Notice of Aggravating Circumstances. In June 2013, the Commonwealth filed a Notice of Removal of Capital Designation. In February 2014, following a jury trial,’the trial court declared a mistrial because the jury could not reach a verdict regarding the charges against Talbert. 4

Following a second jury trial in November 2014, Talbert was acquitted of possessing instruments of crime, and convicted of two counts each of murder of-.the first degree and conspiracy. On January 30, 2015, the trial court sentenced Talbert to concurrent terms of life in prison for the murder convictions and. 20-40 years in prison for the conspiracy convictions.

On February 6, 2015, Talbert filed timely Post-Sentence Motions, which the trial court subsequently denied. Talbert filed a timely Notice of Appeal'and a court-ordered Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b) Concise Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal.

On appeal, Talbert raises the following questions for our review:

T. Whether [Talbert] is entitled tó' h new trial based on the ground that the trial court erred' in admitting an overly prejudicial [music] video of [Talbert] singing rap lyrics[,] when the Commonwealth failed to establish that [Talbert] whs the author of the lyrics and failed to establish that' the lyrics, in fact, pertained to the incident in question?
II.Whether [Talbert] is entitled to an arrest of judgment on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his eonviction[,] since he was found not guilty of [possessing an [instrument of [c]rime[,] and the only evidence linking him to the crime asserted that he was one of the shooters?
III. ,Whether [Talbert] is entitled to a new trial/arrest of judgment on the ground that the trial court erred in accepting' gn inconsistent verdict since [Talbert’s] acquittal" of the charge of Possessing and Instrument of Crime clearly indicated that the Commonwealth had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was one of the shooters[,] and there was no additional evidence adduced that he played any other role in the crime?
IV. Whether [Talbert] is entitled to an arrest of judgment in the above-captioned matter on the ground that the verdict' is against the weight of the evidence since any evidence linking [Tal-bert] to the crime was contradicted by overwhelming evidence- showing [Aimes] and [Butler] to be the shooters?

Brief for Appellant at 3-4 (renumbered for ease of disposition).

In- his first claim, Talbert- argues that the trial court erred in admitting as evidence a' rap music video that allegedly contained lyrics describing a crime similar to the murders at issue in this case. Id. at 20. Talbert contends that the trial court misconstrued the meaning of the “slang” words used in the lyrics; therefox-e, it was impossible to conclude that the rap specifically referred to the murders in question. Id. at 21. Talbert asserts that' the video was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial, and that its admission into evidence entitles him to a new trial. Id.

*539 Our standard of-review concerning the admissibility of evidence is well settled:

With regard to the admission of evidence, we give the trial court broad discretion, and we will only reverse a trial court’s decision to admit or deny evidence on a showing that the trial court clearly abused its discretion. An abuse of discretion is not merely an error in judgment, but ■ an overriding misapplication of the law, or the exercise of judgment that is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of bias, prejudice, ill-will or partiality, as shown by the evidence of the record.

Commonwealth v. Flamer, 53 A.3d 82, 86 (Pa.Super.2012) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

“Relevance is the threshold for admissibility of evidence.” Commonwealth v. Tyson, 119 A.3d 353, 358 (Pa.Super.2015); see also Pa.R.E. 402. “Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence!,] and the fact is of consequence in determining the .action,” Pa.R.E. 401; see also Tyson, 119 A.3d at 358 (stating that “[e]vidence is relevant if it logically tends to establish a material fact in the case, tends to make a fact at issue more or less probable or supports a reasonáble inference or presumption regarding a material fact.”).

“The court may .exclude relevant evidence if its. probative value: is outweighed by a danger of ... unfair prejudice.... ” Pa.R.E. 403; see also Commonwealth v. Kouma, 53 A.3d 760, 770 (Pa.Super.2012) (stating that even when evidence meets the relevance requirements, “such evidence may still be excluded where its probative value is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.”).

However, [e]vidence will not be prohibited merely because it is harmful to the defendant.

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

Related

Com. v. Ojeda, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Silverman, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Dettinger, W.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Pope, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Holt, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Bazzo, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Harris, K., Jr.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Shiffer, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Croyle, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Com. v. McNeill, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Poore, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Steele, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Gardner, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Formica, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Holmes, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Pugh, K.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Rodriguez-Cruz, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Stubbs, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Maxwell, V.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Daniels, H., III
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 A.3d 536, 2015 Pa. Super. 269, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 837, 2015 WL 9307005, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-talbert-pasuperct-2015.