Commonwealth v. Wright

578 A.2d 513, 396 Pa. Super. 276, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2196
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 1, 1990
Docket00766
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 578 A.2d 513 (Commonwealth v. Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme 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. Wright, 578 A.2d 513, 396 Pa. Super. 276, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2196 (Pa. 1990).

Opinions

CIRILLO, President Judge.

Christopher Wright appeals from the judgment of sentence entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County following his convictions for two counts of possession with intent to deliver marijuana, and two counts of delivery of marijuana. 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30). We vacate the judgment of sentence.

Ken Doran and appellant Christopher Wright attended Penn State University in 1982 and were in the same physics class. They also worked together in 1984 at the Saloon, a restaurant/bar located in State College. In March of 1985, Doran was arrested by the local and campus police for selling cocaine. On March 29, 1985 Doran signed a plea agreement with agents of the Commonwealth in which he agreed to help gather information concerning drug dealing on the Penn State campus in exchange for a probationary sentence. The agreement stated that Doran was aware that the Centre County District Attorney’s Office, the University Police Services, and the DEA reserved the right to indicate their approval of the agreement until Doran “fully cooperated.”

Doran came into contact with Wright a few months later. Wright invited Doran to visit his apartment.1 Doran had not taken any action to satisfy his plea agreement between March 29 and the beginning of July and when he ran into Wright he decided to cultivate a friendship in order to persuade Wright to purchase marijuana for him. Doran [278]*278visited Wright’s apartment several times between July 8 and August 30 of 1985. Doran either called Wright prior to stopping at Wright’s apartment or just stopped by. Doran occasionally brought beer with him and generally stayed for an hour or two. During the visits Wright and Doran often played games such as Yahtzee and Rummy, drank beer, listened to music, and smoked marijuana.

On August 29, 1985, Doran was made aware that his plea bargain was not going to be approved because he had not “fully cooperated” with the agents of the Commonwealth. Thereafter, Doran contacted Police Officer Ronald Schreffler and told him that Wright was an individual from whom Doran thought he could purchase marijuana. Officer Schreffler testified that he and Doran then placed a phone call to Wright during which Doran attempted to set-up a drug transaction. The set-up, however, was unsuccessful. On August 30, 1985, Officer Schreffler again dialed Wright’s residence and Doran asked to meet with Wright. The purpose of the meeting was for Doran to give Wright the $40.00 he had received from the police to enable Wright to purchase two ounces of marijuana. Doran met with Wright, gave him the money, and made arrangements to meet again later that day to pick up the marijuana. Doran stated that the police were aware of all of his actions; “they took charge of the whole thing.... They made up the lies and I told them to fool [Wright] I suppose, to go along with the guise that I was just some innocent person.”

On September 11, 1985, a similar meeting was set up when Officer Schreffler placed a call to Wright’s residence and Doran requested to meet with Wright for the purpose of purchasing marijuana. Again the transaction took place in two steps; first Doran gave Wright the money and later that day they met to enable Wright to give Doran the drugs. This time, however, Doran was given $42.00 by the police, two dollars representing the money which he would give Wright for gasoline expenses.

On September 18, 1985, a third meeting was set up by the police, through Doran, to identify Wright’s source of mari[279]*279juana and to enable Doran to meet with Wright’s source. Doran and Wright got into Wright’s car and drove to Kenneth Stouffer’s house in Milesburg. On their way, they stopped for gas and sodas for which Doran paid. After the two men entered Stouffer’s house, Wright asked Stouffer if he could get Doran some marijuana, and Stouffer went downstairs and brought up a bag of marijuana. Doran gave Stouffer $150.00 for a half pound of marijuana. Upon leaving Stouffer’s residence, Doran asked Stouffer if he could continue to do business with him; Stouffer responded yes and told Doran not to call him directly but to call Wright.

Again, on October 3, 1985, Officer Schreffler placed a call to Wright’s residence. Doran spoke with Wright and made arrangements for Wright to purchase some marijuana for Doran. Officer Schreffler gave Doran $280.00 to purchase a pound of marijuana. Officer Schreffler and Agent Albert R. Lumpkin, Jr., a narcotics investigator employed by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, then drove him to a location near the area where he was to meet Wright. Doran and Wright travelled in Wright’s vehicle to Stouffer’s residence. They stopped on their way to Stouffer’s to buy gas and sodas. Again, Doran paid. Once at Stouffer’s, Doran was permitted to go downstairs to the basement where he saw a room filled with marijuana plants. Doran then purchased a pound of marijuana for $280.00. After leaving the Stouffer residence, Doran gave the marijuana to Agent Lumpkin. After each of the incidents, Doran gave a taped statement. Wright was arrested and thereafter was tried before a jury on April 23, 1986.

The aforementioned discussion details the nature and sequence of the events which transpired. However, also relevant to our disposition of this case is the testimony that illustrates the extent of the police department’s involvement and the nature of the relationship between Wright and Doran.

For example, on cross-examination, Officer Schreffler testified that Doran was acting as an informant. He also [280]*280admitted that he decided to have Doran fabricate a story about working at the University so that Wright would have to go on campus to meet Doran to obtain the money for the marijuana.

In addition, Agent Lumpkin testified that Doran was not charged with possession of marijuana because “he was my informant or our informant, law enforcement agent.” Agent Lumpkin, an agent of the Commonwealth, testified that he had agreed to allow Doran to act as an informant. He also testified that he was aware that each time Wright drove Doran to Stouffer’s residence, Doran gave Wright money for gas. Agent Lumpkin also stated that he initially was not aware that Doran was fronting the money to Wright and that he preferred not to front money but if it was the only method of accomplishing the transaction, he would permit it.

Moreover, Thomas P. King, a criminal investigator with the State College Bureau of Police Services, testified that he had worked in drug enforcement and with the Penn State University Police. On cross-examination, Investigator King referred to Doran as “the informant” when he was explaining that Doran introduced King to Stouffer.2 King also stated that Doran was advised, to tell Wright that he worked at the University to provide Doran with an excuse for not initially accompanying Wright to obtain the marijuana and to enable the police to control where Doran and Wright would meet to exchange the money and marijuana.

In addition, Doran testified that on August 30, he asked Wright if he could purchase two ounces of marijuana and Wright responded that he would look into it but that he probably could obtain it. Doran stated that during his phone conversations with Wright, Wright never indicated that he did not want to sell him the marijuana. On cross-examination, Doran admitted that he told Wright he had to [281]*281work, did not have much free time, and that as a result, Wright was doing him a favor

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

Related

Com. v. Ortega, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2026
Com. v. Fowler, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
In re Laura Hernandez
2021 VT 65 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2021)
Com. v. Como, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Watson, O.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014
Commonwealth v. Marion
981 A.2d 230 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Lucci
662 A.2d 1 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Phillips
654 A.2d 591 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Morrow
650 A.2d 907 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Harris
636 A.2d 210 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Rickabaugh
633 A.2d 647 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Commonwealth v. Mance
619 A.2d 1378 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Com. v. Mance
619 A.2d 1378 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Wright v. Schreffler
618 A.2d 412 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Ritter
615 A.2d 442 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Timer
609 A.2d 572 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Borgella
611 A.2d 699 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Dukeman
605 A.2d 418 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Eicher
605 A.2d 337 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
People v. Juillet
475 N.W.2d 786 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
578 A.2d 513, 396 Pa. Super. 276, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-wright-pa-1990.