In the Interest of: D.S., a Minor

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 9, 2021
Docket223 MDA 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Interest of: D.S., a Minor (In the Interest of: D.S., a Minor) 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
In the Interest of: D.S., a Minor, (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S22036-21

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN THE INTEREST OF: D.S., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: D.S., A MINOR : : : : : No. 223 MDA 2021

Appeal from the Dispositional Order Entered January 27, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Snyder County Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-55-JV-0000039-2020

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., McCAFFERY, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PELLEGRINI, J.: FILED: AUGUST 9, 2021

D.S. appeals from the dispositional order1 entered in the Snyder County

Court of Common Pleas (juvenile court) adjudicating him delinquent of

conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to commit theft, felony burglary,

criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property,

possession of instruments of crime (PIC), institutional vandalism, disorderly

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 D.S. purports to appeal from the court’s January 27, 2021 dispositional order

and its February 5, 2021 order denying his post-dispositional order. (See Notice of Appeal, 2/17/21). However, the appeal properly lies from only the dispositional order. See In Interest of P.S., 158 A.3d 643, 649 (Pa. Super. 2017) (“In juvenile proceedings, the final order from which a direct appeal may be taken is the order of disposition, entered after the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent.”) (citation and brackets omitted). We have amended the caption accordingly. J-S22036-21

conduct and criminal mischief.2 D.S. challenges the sufficiency and weight of

the evidence to sustain a finding (1) that he committed the crimes of which

he was found guilty and (2) that he was in need of treatment, supervision or

rehabilitation. We affirm.

We take the following factual history and procedural background from

the trial court’s May 5, 2021 opinion3 and our independent review of the

record.

I.

On October 5, 2020, the Commonwealth filed a delinquency petition

against D.S. alleging that he and two other youths, A.H. and G.B., committed

burglary, theft and related charges at the Bible Baptist Church in Snyder

County. At the time of the theft at the church, he was on probation in another

Snyder County matter for his admitted theft of a firearm. At the dispositional

hearing, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of co-conspirators A.H.

and G.B. and Probation Officer Adrianne Robbins (P.O. Robbins). D.S. testified

on his own behalf.

2 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 903, 3502(a)(4), 3503(a)(1)(ii), 3503(a)(1)(i), 3921(a), 3925(a), 907(a), 3307(a)(1), 5503(a)(4), 3304(a)(5) and 3921(a).

3 D.S. failed to attach to his brief a copy of the trial court’s opinion or his Rule

1925(b) statement in violation of Rule 2111. See Pa.R.A.P. 2111(a)(10), (a)(11), (b).

-2- J-S22036-21

A.

Fifteen-year-old A.H. testified that late on the night of May 11, 2020, he

and G.B. walked up the road from A.H.’s mother’s house and met D.S., who

lived nearby, outside the subject church. A.H. was friends with D.S. through

G.B. The three discussed how best to get into the church, through a door or

window. A.H. first broke a window on a door, but they decided the back

window would be best for gaining entry, so A.H. broke the window by throwing

a rock through it. Once inside, the three searched for money, rummaging

through cabinets in the kitchen and offices. Upstairs, there was an office and

baptizing, service and instrument rooms. They found a locked money bag in

the upstairs office and A.H. used a knife to cut it open. Inside was cash and

checks. The three of them split the $500.004 they found before leaving the

church, with D.S. splitting off from A.H. and G.B., who headed back to A.H.’s

mother’s house. (N.T. Hearing, 10/26/20, at 7-15, 17-18).

Sixteen-year-old G.B. testified similarly to A.H., with a few

inconsistencies. He stated that late on the night of May 11, 2020, A.H. was

spending the night at his house when the two went out for a walk. A.H. went

to get D.S. and the three boys met at the church. They all entered the church

4 Although A.H. testified that he was unsure of the exact amount of money

they found, the Commonwealth gave an offer of proof that the church’s Pastor would testify that $500.00 was taken that night. (See N.T. Hearing, 10/26/20, at 38).

-3- J-S22036-21

after A.H. threw a rock through a back window. While G.B. watched, D.S. and

A.H. went through drawers in a kitchen area and an upstairs instrument room.

In a second-floor office, the boys discovered a Northumberland National

money bag, which A.H. opened using a knife, revealing small envelopes with

checks and cash inside them. A.H. and D.S. split the money they found

between the two of them because G.B. did not want any of it. Upon leaving

the church, A.H. and G.B. went one way and D.S. went another. (See id. at

26, 29-34).

D.S. lived at his mother’s house in the same town as the church. He

denied being at the subject church on May 11, 2020, because he was staying

at the home of his cousin, Joshua Allen, that night. He testified that his aunt,

Tara Jennings, was also present. Although Ms. Jennings was noticed as an

alibi witness, she did not attend the trial because D.S. failed to subpoena her.

(See id. at 41, 43, 45-46, 51).

At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found there was sufficient

evidence to prove that D.S. committed all crimes with which he was charged.

It recognized that the testimony of A.H. and G.B. was inconsistent to a certain

extent. However, it found G.B.’s testimony questionable because he appeared

to be minimizing his involvement. It found A.H.’s testimony credible, in part

because he admitted to throwing the rock and cutting open the money bag.

It concluded that the evidence established that the three boys conspired to

enter the church together with the intent to commit a crime and, in fact, did

-4- J-S22036-21

so, stealing $500.00 and breaking windows, resulting in financial damages to

the church. (See id. at 53-55).

After the court found that D.S. committed the crimes with which he was

charged, including burglary as a felony of the second degree, the

Commonwealth presented the testimony of P.O. Robbins to establish that D.S.

was in need of treatment, supervision or rehabilitation pursuant to Section

6341(b) of the Juvenile Act.5

B.

P.O. Robbins testified that she had been supervising D.S. since

November 20, 2019, when he was convicted of theft. Although he began that

probationary period on ankle monitoring, it had been removed due to his

participation in services provided by Justice Works. On July 4, 2020, he had

5 Section 6341(b) of the Juvenile Act provides:

If the court finds on proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the child committed the acts by reason of which he is alleged to be delinquent it shall enter such finding on the record and shall specify the particular offenses, including the grading and counts thereof which the child is found to have committed. The court shall then proceed immediately or at a postponed hearing … to hear evidence as to whether the child is in need of treatment, supervision or rehabilitation, as established by a preponderance of the evidence, and to make and file its findings thereon.

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