In the Interest of Gonzalez

386 A.2d 586, 255 Pa. Super. 217, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2882
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 28, 1978
Docket524
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 386 A.2d 586 (In the Interest of Gonzalez) 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 Gonzalez, 386 A.2d 586, 255 Pa. Super. 217, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2882 (Pa. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

VAN der VOORT, Judge:

Hector Gonzalez, age 17, appeared before the Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, of Berks County on October 18, 1976, pursuant to a petition filed on September 9, 1976, by an assistant district attorney for Berks County. The petition alleged that Hector Gonzalez was a delinquent child due to his participation in an incident involving the illegal entry of the J. C. Mumma Jewelry Store located at 446 Penn Street, Reading, Pennsylvania. On October 18, 1976, Hector Gonzalez was adjudicated a delinquent child and disposition was deferred until November 3, 1976, at which time he was placed on probation and ordered to make restitution for the damage done to the J. C. Mumma Jewelry Store. From the orders of adjudication and disposition, an appeal was taken to this Court.

Briefly, the facts indicate that on September 7, 1976, at approximately 12:40 A.M., the Reading police were notified by radio that a burglar alarm was sounding at the J. C. Mumma Jewelry Store. Officer Edward Thomas responded to the alert and proceeded to an alleyway at the rear of the jewelry store. While standing in the alley waiting for additional units to arrive, Officer Thomas saw two men jump off the roof of the Farr Shoe Store which is located in the same complex of stores as the Mumma Jewelry Store. The two individuals started running up the alley as Officer Thomas was telling them to stop. He gave chase and at the end of the alley the two turned right and were met by the K-9 corps coming down the street. The two were apprehended at this point and taken to the City Hall, where the appellant was formally charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.

Appellant raises three issues on appeal which we will deal with seriatim. Initially, it is contended that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the adjudication of delin *220 quency. Since the charge of delinquency was based on the crimes of criminal conspiracy 1 and burglary 2 it was incumbent upon the Commonwealth to prove the elements of those two offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. It is beyond question that the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth being that it was the verdict winner. Commonwealth v. Cimaszewski, 447 Pa. 141, 288 A.2d 805 (1972), Commonwealth v. Miller, 445 Pa. 282, 284 A.2d 739 (1971). The evidence established that a burglar alarm sounded notifying the police that an attempted break-in was occurring at the Mumma Jewelry Store. In response to the alarm, several police officers proceeded to the location where one officer observed two individuals jump from a building adjacent to the Mumma Jewelry Store and start running up the alley. The officer lost sight of the two for approximately five or six seconds when they turned the corner at the end of the alley. When the officer turned the corner, he observed the K-9 corps approaching from the opposite direction and apprehend the two individuals. The owner of the store testified that the partition in his store had been damaged although it was in proper repair when the store was closed earlier that evening. Also, several articles and pieces of furniture were disarranged.

It is appellant’s position that no one saw the two individuals attempting to break into the store and there was no testimony establishing that there was any type of agreement to commit a burglary. Criminal conspiracy is defined in Section 903 of Title 18 of Purdon’s Consolidated Statutes:

(a) Definition of Conspiracy. — A person is guilty of conspiracy with another person or persons to commit a crime if with the intent of promoting or facilitating its commission he:
(1) Agrees with such other person or persons that they or one or more of them will engage in conduct which constitutes such crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime; or
*221 (2) Agrees to aid such other person or persons in the planning or commission of such crime or of an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime.

It is necessary for an overt act to have been done in pursuance of such conspiracy before a party can be convicted of the crime. In this case, the testimony clearly established that there had been a breaking and entering of the jewelry store, and within the premises certain objects were disarranged. That two individuals were observed by a police officer responding to the burglar alarm set off in the store jumping from an adjacent building and running up an alley. That these two individuals were apprehended a short distance from the store. And that the appellant requested a police officer to retrieve his hat from the alley behind the store. In Commonwealth v. Larkin, 235 Pa.Super. 19, 341 A.2d 204 (1975), we quoted a recent Supreme Court case dealing with the issue of the sufficiency of evidence necessary to sustain a conviction. At 235 Pa.Super. 19, 21, 341 A.2d 204, 205 we stated:

To sustain a conviction, the facts and circumstances which the Commonwealth prove must be such that every essential element of the crime is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Although the Commonwealth does not have to establish guilt to a mathematical certainty, and may in the proper case rely wholly on circumstantial evidence, the conviction must be based on, more than mere suspicion or conjecture. [Footnotes omitted.] Commonwealth v. Roscioli, 454 Pa. 59, 62, 309 A.2d 396, 398 (1973).

It has also been' the consistent holding of the Pennsylvania appellate courts that direct and positive evidence of a corrupt agreement is not necessary. Commonwealth v. Dunie, 172 Pa.Super. 444, 94 A.2d 166 (1953). An agreement may be inferred from the acts and conduct of the parties since by its very nature the crime is frequently not susceptible of proof except by circumstantial evidence. Commonwealth v. Rosen, 141 Pa.Super. 272, 14 A.2d 833 (1940). However, the evidence to sustain a charge of conspiracy must be such as reasonably and naturally overcomes the presumption of in *222 nocence and establishes the guilt of the accused. [Citations omitted]. Commonwealth v. Santana, 216 Pa.Super. 183, 264 A.2d 724 (1970). In the instant case, we find that the evidence amply supports the adjudication of delinquency. There is no question that the Mumma Jewelry Store was broken into with the intent to commit theft.

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Bluebook (online)
386 A.2d 586, 255 Pa. Super. 217, 1978 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-gonzalez-pasuperct-1978.