Commonwealth v. Watson

69 A.3d 605, 2013 Pa. Super. 99, 2013 WL 1840376, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 705
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 1, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 69 A.3d 605 (Commonwealth v. Watson) 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. Watson, 69 A.3d 605, 2013 Pa. Super. 99, 2013 WL 1840376, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 705 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY

STEVENS, P.J.

This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, which, sitting as finder of fact in a non-jury trial, found Appellant guilty of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance1 and knowingly or intentionally possessing a controlled substance.2 Appellant claims that the trial court erroneously ruled against compelling identity disclosure of the confidential informant who purchased narcotics from him. We affirm.

The case sub judice arises from events occurring on January 19, 2010, in which Officer Hattie McKellar of the Narcotics Field Unit surveillance team employed a confidential informant (“Cl”) to purchase drugs with prerecorded buy money at the residential address of 3236 W. Fontain Street. N.T. 5/2/11 at 6-7. From her undercover position 20 to 30 feet away inside a parked car, Officer McKellar witnessed Appellant standing outside the residence as the Cl approached him. N.T. at 14-15. The Cl spoke with Appellant briefly before handing him the buy money. Appellant took the money inside the residence and returned, about thirty seconds later, to hand small objects to the Cl. The Cl returned directly to Officer McKellar and produced four blue-capped, clear vials of crack cocaine. N.T. at 6-7.

[607]*607Officer McKellar’s observations formed the basis for a search warrant for 3236 W. Fontain Street, which police executed on January 21, 2010, two days after the observed transaction. As they approached the boarding house at that address, officers saw Appellant walk out and surreptitiously discard underneath a parked car objects that, when recovered and tested by police, proved to be nine clear vials of crack cocaine with gray tops. Four more gray-capped vials were recovered from inside the residence. N.T. at 34-35.

Arrested and charged with offenses stemming from both his transaction with the Cl and the crack cocaine recovered during execution of the warrant, Appellant filed a motion to compel disclosure of the Cl’s identity. On November 30, 2010, the court denied his motion. Appellant proceeded to bench trial on May 2, 2011, where the court found him guilty of PWID on the sale of crack cocaine to the Cl, guilty of possession of the crack cocaine thrown under the car, and not guilty on a charge of conspiracy relating to drugs found inside the residence. N.T. at 60. Waiving a presentence investigation report, Appellant stood for sentencing immediately after trial and received an aggregate sentence of three years’ probation.

In this timely appeal, Appellant raises the following issue:

DID NOT THE LOWER COURT ERR IN FAILING TO ORDER DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITY OF THE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT, WHERE APPELLANT ASSERTED A DEFENSE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY AT TRIAL, WHERE THE INFORMANT WAS THE ONLY EYEWITNESS OTHER THAN A SINGLE POLICE OFFICER, AND WHERE THE COMMONWEALTH FAILED TO DEMONSTRATE ANY EXCEPTIONAL OR COMPELLING REASON FOR NONDISCLOSURE THAT OUTWEIGHED APPELLANT’S RIGHT TO PREPARE A DEFENSE?

Brief of Appellant at 3.

“Our standard of review of claims that a trial court erred in its disposition of a request for disclosure of an informant’s identity is confined to abuse of discretion.” Commonwealth v. Washington, 63 A.3d 797, 801 (Pa.Super.2013).

Under Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 573, a trial court has the discretion to require the Commonwealth to reveal the names and addresses of all eyewitnesses, including confidential informants, where a defendant makes a showing of material need and reasonableness:
(a) In all court cases, except as otherwise provided in Rule 230 (Disclosure of Testimony Before Investigating Grand Jury), if the defendant files a motion for pretrial discovery, the court may order the Commonwealth to allow the defendant’s attorney to inspect and copy or photograph any of the following requested items, upon a showing that they are material to the preparation of the defense, and that the request is reasonable:
(i) the names and addresses of eyewitnesses ....
Pa.R.Crim.P. 573(B)(2)(a)(i).
The Commonwealth enjoys a qualified privilege to withhold the identity of a confidential source. Commonwealth v. Bing, [551 Pa. 659, 713 A.2d 56 (1998) ]; Commonwealth v. Roebuck, 545 Pa. 471, 681 A.2d 1279, 1283 n. 6 (1996). In order to overcome this qualified privilege and obtain disclosure of a confidential informant’s identity, a defendant must first establish, pursuant to Rule 573(B)(2)(a)(i), that the information sought is material to the preparation of [608]*608the defense and that the request is reasonable. Roebuck, supra at 1283. Only-after the defendant shows that the identity of the confidential informant is material to the defense is the trial court required to exercise its discretion to determine whether the information should be revealed by balancing relevant factors, which are initially weighted toward the Commonwealth. Bing, supra at 58; Commonwealth v. Herron, 475 Pa. 461, 380 A.2d 1228 (1977).
In striking the proper balance, the court must consider the following principles:
A further limitation on the applicability of the privilege arises from the fundamental requirements of fairness. Where the disclosure of an informer’s identity, or of the contents of his communication, is relevant and helpful to the defense of an accused, or is essential to a fair determination of a cause, the privilege must give way. In these situations[,] the trial court may require disclosure and, if the Government withholds the information, dismiss the action.
[ N]o fixed rule with respect to disclosure is justifiable. The problem is one that calls for balancing the public interest in protecting the flow of information against the individual’s right to prepare his defense. Whether a proper balance renders nondisclosure erroneous must depend on the particular circumstances of each case, taking into consideration the crime charged, the possible defenses, the possible significance of the informer’s testimony, and other relevant factors.
Commonwealth v. Carter, 427 Pa. 53, 233 A.2d 284, 287 (1967) (quoting Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 60-62, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957)).

Commonwealth v. Marsh, 606 Pa. 254, 260-261, 997 A.2d 318, 321-322 (2010).

Herein, Appellant contends he overcame the Commonwealth’s qualified privilege against disclosure with evidence establishing that disclosure was both material to his misidentification defense and reasonable under the circumstances.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 A.3d 605, 2013 Pa. Super. 99, 2013 WL 1840376, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-watson-pasuperct-2013.