Commonwealth v. Woods

909 A.2d 372, 2006 Pa. Super. 275, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3055, 2006 WL 2796791
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 2, 2006
Docket1600 EDA 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 909 A.2d 372 (Commonwealth v. Woods) 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. Woods, 909 A.2d 372, 2006 Pa. Super. 275, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3055, 2006 WL 2796791 (Pa. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION BY

STEVENS, J.:

¶ 1 On October 13, 2004, Appellant Russell Woods entered nolo contendere pleas to Aggravated Indecent Assault 1 and Corruption of Minors. 2 This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on May 13, 2005, at which time Appellant received a sentence of eleven and one-half (11 ^) months to twenty-three (23) months in prison on the Corruption of Minors charge followed by a five (5) year term of reporting probation on his Aggravated Indecent Assault charge. We affirm.

¶ 2 The salient facts and procedural history in the instant matter are as follows: In her Affidavit of Probable Cause, Detective Norma Troche indicated that on June 6, 2004, Appellant, age twenty-one, approached C.G., a fifteen year old girl, as she was waiting on the platform of the South Broad Street subway. Appellant asked C.G. her name and address and tugged on her clothing. C.G. did not respond to Appellant’s questioning. Appellant followed C.G. onto the train, sat next to her, and began kissing her, though she told him to stop. C.G. tried to get away from Appellant, but he followed her when she disembarked at the Tasker Street stop. Appellant proceeded to push C.G. against a wall, kiss her, thrust his hands down her pants, and digitally penetrate her vagina. Once again, C.G. tried to push Appellant away and told him to stop. Before C.G. was able to escape and flee to her nearby church on Tasker Street, Appellant slipped a piece of paper with his first name and phone number written on it into C.G.’s jacket pocket.

¶ 3 On October 13, 2004, Appellant appeared before the trial court at which time Appellant indicated he understood the difference between a trial and a plea and that no one had forced or threatened him to enter a plea. N.T., 10/13/04, at 3-4. After listening to the Commonwealth’s summary of the facts surrounding the case, and satisfied that Appellant’s plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary, the trial court *375 accepted Appellant’s plea of no contest to count one, aggravated indecent assault, and of no contest to count six, corruption of minors. N.T., 10/13/04, at 4-5. 3 Thereafter, the trial court ordered the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to assess whether Appellant is a sexually violent predator for purposes of Megan’s Law II. 4 Dr. Barry Zakireh, Ph.D., conducted the assessment and concluded that Appellant should be classified as a sexually violent predator.

¶ 4 Also on October 13, 2004, Appellant completed a written colloquy wherein he indicated, inter alia, his awareness he could receive up to fifteen (15) years in jail and be fined $35,000.00 if convicted of the crimes with which he had been charged and his understanding he would, in fact, receive a sentence of 11 íé months to 23 months in prison followed by five years probation.

¶ 5 On October 18, 2004, Appellant filed a fifty-seven page document entitled Motion to Challenge the Constitutionality of the “Sexually Violent Predator” Provisions of Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, to Suppress Evidence, and to Bar a Second Prosecution for the Same Offense. 5 Accompanying that Motion was an Amicus Curiae’s Memorandum of Law in Support of a Motion to Challenge the Constitutionality of the “Sexually Violent Predator” Provisions of Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, to Suppress Evidence, and to Bar a Second Prosecution for the Same Offense. 6

¶ 6 On May 13, 2005, the trial court conducted a hearing to determine whether Appellant should be classified as a sexually violent predator (Megan’s Law Hearing). At the hearing, Appellant decided to fore-go his right to cross examine Dr. Zakireh and stipulated that the latter would testify in accordance with the report he prepared. N.T., 5/13/05, at 4. Appellant also asked that the notes of testimony presented in two other cases Appellant’s counsel had argued before the trial court, Montinez and/or McCutchin, be incorporated into the record. N.T., 5/13/05, at 4. The trial court summarized for Appellant its understanding of counsel’s continuing argument as “attempts to point out the fact that often psychology and psychiatry is (sic) still not hard science. There is some art interpretations, (sic) people’s opinions go into it. It’s not like a straightforward chemical analysis, okay?” N.T., 5/13/05, at 7.

¶ 7 At the conclusion of the Megan’s Law Hearing, Appellant contended that the stipulated evidence was not sufficient for the Commonwealth to sustain its burden to the standard of clear and convincing evidence that Appellant should be classified as a sexually violent predator. N.T., 5/13/05, at 11. Appellant maintained that because Dr. Zakireh did not interview him personally, and relied upon Appellant’s criminal behavior when he was a juvenile in making a diagnosis, his assessment is lacking. 7

*376 ¶ 8 After reviewing the stipulated evidence and hearing the arguments of counsel, the trial court determined the evidence clearly and convincingly established that Appellant is a sexually violent predator. N.T., 5/13/05, at 15. Immediately following the hearing, the trial court sentenced Appellant pursuant to the negotiated plea agreement to a term of 11/é months to 23 months in prison for his corruption of minors conviction and followed that sentence with five years of reporting probation for his aggravated indecent-assault conviction. N.T., 5/13/05, at 22.

¶ 9 On June 6, 2005, Appellant filed a timely Notice of Appeal.

¶ 10 On June 14, 2005, the trial court filed an Order Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b). On June 27, 2005, Appellant filed a timely Preliminary Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal in which he challenged the constitutionality of Megan’s Law in its entirety, claimed the evidence was insufficient to establish Appellant was accurately diagnosed with a mental abnormality, and asserted that he was erroneously found to be a sexually violent predator in that the evidence was insufficient to establish clearly and convincingly he is likely to commit predatory, sexually violent offenses in the future. The final two paragraphs of his Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement read as follows:

(3.) Counsel will continue to make all efforts to obtain the necessary notes of testimony. Counsel reserves the right to file a final Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal within fourteen days of the receipt of all the necessary notes of testimony in this case.
(4.) Finally, counsel respectfully requests that the court postpone filing its Opinion pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925 until the notes of testimony have been prepared and received, and until counsel has had a fair opportunity to review said notes and supplements this statement as necessary.

¶ 11 On September 12, 2005, without leave of court, 8

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

Related

Com. v. Chaves, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Laudermilch, D., Jr.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Cseplo, G. v. Scholtz, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Torres, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Torres, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Romero, F.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Almodovar, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Smith, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Camp, J., Jr.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Dunbar, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Com. v. Crawford, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Cannon, O.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Burton, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Hall, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Calcagni, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Borgos-Leon, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Lake, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Williams, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Preziosi, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Ray, T., Jr.
134 A.3d 1109 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 A.2d 372, 2006 Pa. Super. 275, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3055, 2006 WL 2796791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-woods-pasuperct-2006.