Commonwealth v. Washington

393 A.2d 891, 259 Pa. Super. 407, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3886
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided October 20, 1978·No. No. 250·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Appellant contends that the lower court erred in admitting his confession because it was: 1) obtained during an unnecessary delay between arrest and arraignment in violation of Pa.R.Crim.P. 130, 2) involuntary, and 3) the fruit of a warrantless arrest which lacked probable cause. We disagree and, therefore, affirm the judgments of sentence.

On February 18, 1977, Detective Joseph Bross of the Philadelphia Police Department arrested appellant without warrant for the February 16, 1977 robbery of Frederick Peaster and his family. Bross charged appellant with possession of instruments of a crime,1 possession of weapons,2 three counts of robbery,3 burglary,4 conspiracy,5 simple assault,6 and resisting arrest.7 On May 11, 1977, appellant filed a motion to suppress his confession as well as all identifications and physical evidence seized. On June 10, 1977, the lower court conducted a suppression hearing. At this hearing, Officer Charles Geist testified that on February 16, 1977, he saw appellant chasing Mr. Peaster, who was shouting that appellant had robbed him. Officer Geist arrested appellant, but appellant escaped within minutes. Officer Geist provided the following description of appellant: Negro male, 25—30 years old, bulgy eyes, green Army fatigue jacket, and dark pants. Mr. Peaster, the robbery victim and a long time friend of appellant, added the following details: name Big Wash, six feet tall, dark complexion, large lips, mustache, and white sneakers.

[410] Detective Bross testified that two days after the robbery and two to four hours prior to his arrest of appellant, a confidential informant told police appellant’s whereabouts. Detective Bross staked out the area and watched appellant arrive by cab at the location and time the informant had designated. Detective Bross noticed that appellant’s height, mustache, jacket, and pants matched the descriptions given by Officer Geist and Mr. Peaster. As he approached appellant with his gun drawn, Detective Bross observed more of appellant’s features and concluded that they matched the descriptions. After a brief verbal exchange, appellant identified himself as Leroy Washington.

Detective Bross arrested appellant at 1:05 a. m. and transported him by police van to the Police Administration Building, where he arrived at 1:45 a. m. Detectives Bross and Formicola started their interview of appellant at 1:55 a. m.8 At 1:58 a. m., they gave appellant Miranda warnings. Bross testified that appellant indicated he understood the warnings and wanted to make a statement without assistance of counsel. Appellant signed a waiver form and almost immediately thereafter made a statement in which he admitted his part in the February 16, 1977 robbery. He concluded his statement at 3:15 a. m., and read and signed it by 3:37 a. m. The police did not question appellant further concerning the robbery. At approximately 7:35 a. m., appellant was arraigned. ;

At the suppression hearing, appellant testified that one of the interrogating officers hit him repeatedly with a blackjack, thus forcing him to sign the waiver form and the confession. The police testified that no one struck or threatened appellant at any time between arrest and arraignment. After hearing the conflicting testimony of appellant and the police, the lower court refused to suppress appellant’s confession.

Following a non-jury trial on June 17, 1977, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, the lower court found appellant guilty of burglary, simple assault, criminal [411] conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime, and three counts of robbery. On October 24, 1977, the lower court denied appellant’s written post-verdict motions and sentenced him to concurrent two to five year terms of imprisonment on the three counts of robbery; the court suspended sentence on the remaining crimes. This appeal followed.

Appellant first contends that the lower court erred in admitting his statement at trial because it was obtained during an impermissible pre-arraignment delay in violation of Pa.R.Crim.P. 130. We disagree.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 130 provides:
“When a defendant has been arrested without a warrant in a court case, he shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the proper issuing authority where a complaint shall be filed against him and he shall be given an immediate preliminary arraignment.”

Commonwealth v. Futch, 447 Pa. 389, 290 A.2d 417 (1972) established a three-prong test for determining whether the Commonwealth has violated Rule 130: 1) was the delay between arrest and arraignment necessary or reasonably related to time needed to process an accused administratively, 2) did the delay produce or contribute to the securing of the evidence, and 3) was the evidence obtained during the delay prejudicial to the accused. Id., 447 Pa. at 392-94, 290 A.2d at 418-19. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 455 Pa. 569, 319 A.2d 419 (1974).9 We believe that the delay in arraigning appellant did not contribute to the securing of his confession in this case, and, therefore, the Commonwealth did not violate Rule 130.

In determining whether a delay produced or contributed to the securing of evidence, a court must focus on one time period: the delay between arrest and the first utterance of confession. Commonwealth v. Williams, 476 Pa. 344, 347, [412] 382 A.2d 1202, 1204 (1978); Commonwealth v. Perry, 468 Pa. 515, 364 A.2d 312 (1976); Commonwealth v. Blagman, 458 Pa. 431, 326 A.2d 296 (1974). Any delay in arraigning appellant after his confession cannot contribute to the obtaining of the confession. Commonwealth v. Rowe, 459 Pa. 163, 327 A.2d 358 (1974). Moreover, appellant must show that there is a causal nexus between such delay and the confession. Commonwealth v. Williams, 476 Pa. 344, 382 A.2d 1202 (1978); Commonwealth v. McFaddon, 470 Pa. 604, 610, 369 A.2d 1156, 1159 (1977); Commonwealth v. Coley, 466 Pa. 53, 64, 351 A.2d 617, 622 (1976); Commonwealth v. Young, 460 Pa. 598, 334 A.2d 252 (1975).

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Commonwealth v. Washington, 393 A.2d 891, 259 Pa. Super. 407, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3886 (Pa. Ct. App. 1978).

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