Commonwealth v. Washington

198 A.3d 381
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 24, 2018
DocketNo. 1099 EDA 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 198 A.3d 381 (Commonwealth v. Washington) 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. Washington, 198 A.3d 381 (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.:

Appellant Anthony Washington appeals from the Order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on March 2, 2017, denying his "Motion to Preclude Retrial and Dismiss All Cha[r]ges on the Basis of Intentional Prosecutorial Misconduct, Pursuant to the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Federal Constitution." After careful review, we affirm.1

The trial court aptly set forth the procedural history and relevant facts herein as follows:

PROCEDURAL HISTORY
*384The Appellant was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death on December 9, 1994. Commonwealth v. Washington, [549 Pa. 12,] 700 A.2d 400 (Pa. 1997). The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction and death sentence on direct appeal. Id. On August 20, 2007, [Appellant] filed a motion to stay execution and to appoint counsel to represent him in a to-be-filed habeas petition, which was granted on August 23, 2007. Washington v. Beard, 2015 WL 234719 at *1 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 16, 2015).
[Appellant] filed a federal habeas petition on May 5, 2008. Id. On January 16, 2015, after an evidentiary hearing, Judge Stengel found that the Commonwealth violated both Brady 1 and Bruton 2 , vacated the Appellant's conviction and sentence, and remanded the matter for a new trial. Id.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia was appointed as counsel and filed a motion/memorandum titled "Motion to Preclude Retrial and Dismiss all Cha[r]ges on the Basis of Intentional Prosecutorial Misconduct, Pursuant to the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Federal Constitution" on July 13, 2016. The Commonwealth filed "Commonwealth's Answer to Defendant's Motion to Preclude Retrial and Dismiss All Charges on the Basis of Intentional Prosecutorial Misconduct" on August 17, 2016.3
A hearing on the motion was scheduled for March 2, 2017. Appellant's presence was waived by counsel. N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 3.[2] The Commonwealth and Appellant's counsel stated that both sides intended to rely on the pleadings filed in this matter and argument. N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 4-5. After consideration of the pleadings and arguments of counsel, this [c]ourt denied Appellant's motion, but found that the motion was not frivolous and the denial was automatically appealable as a collateral issue. N.T. 3/2/2017, p. 32.
The Appellant filed a notice of appeal on March 29, 2017. On the same day, this [c]ourt ordered the Appellant to file a 1925(b) statement within twenty-one (21) days of the filing. On April 11, 2017, Appellant filed a request for an extension of time to file the 1925(b) statement because the notes of testimony were unavailable. Appellant requested an extension for the 1925(b) statement for twenty-one (21) days after the notes of testimony were made available. This [c]ourt granted the extension on April 13, 2017.
Notes of testimony were uploaded to the Court Reporting System on May 2, 2017. The Appellant filed a "Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal" on June 21, 2017. Counsel for the Appellant stated that the notes of testimony were received on June 2, 2017. This [c]ourt notes that another copy of the notes of testimony was uploaded on June 1, 2017.
Appellant asserts that this [c]ourt erred in not finding that the conduct of the prosecutor was "deliberate, egregious, and was intended to prejudice the defendant and deny him a fair trial." Appellant's Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal, page 2.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The following factual statement is incorporated from District Judge Stengel's opinion in *385Washington v. Beard, 2015 WL 234719 at *1 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 16, 2015). No additional facts were presented in the Appellant's or Commonwealth's pleadings.4
a) Facts of Appellant's Trial
On January 23, 1993, two men robbed a Save-A-Lot in the Kensington Area of Philadelphia. Id. During the course of the robbery, the emergency gate to the front of the store started to close, causing the robbers to flee. Id. They were pursued by Tracy Lawson, an unarmed security guard working at the Save-A-Lot. Id. Police Officer Gerald Smith, who was moonlighting as a security guard at an adjacent store, joined the pursuit and fired a shot at the fleeing men. Id. One of the robbers fired a shot in Lawson's direction in response. Id. Lawson was struck in the head by the bullet and died of the wound. Id.
The Appellant and Derrick Teagle were arrested and charged with robbery, murder, and related offenses. Id. Teagle gave a statement to the police before being arrested. Id. This statement outlined his involvement in the robbery and named the Appellant as the other robber and as the person who shot Lawson. Id. The Appellant's name was replaced with "blank" when the statement was read to the jury at trial. Id. Neither Teagle nor the Appellant testified at trial. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 A.3d 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-washington-pasuperct-2018.