Case Title: Com. v. Williams

Citation: 396 A.2d 1177, 483 Pa. 293

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1978-11-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
483 Pa. 293 (1978) 396 A.2d 1177 COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Kevin WILLIAMS, Appellant. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued April 20, 1978. Decided November 18, 1978. Reargument Denied February 12, 1979. *294 *295 Frank J. Eustace, Jr., Philadelphia, for appellant. Edward G. Rendell, Dist. Atty., Steven H. Goldblatt, Deputy Dist. Atty. for Law, Robert B. Lawler, Chief, Appeals Div., Asst. Dist. Atty., Glenn S. Gitomer, Philadelphia, for appellee. Before EAGEN, C.J., and O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX, MANDERINO and LARSEN, JJ. O'BRIEN, Justice. Appellant, Kevin Williams, was convicted of murder of the first degree in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals the judgment of sentence. Appellant was charged in connection with the death of James Spinks. The victim, accompanied by a friend, James Norwood, was walking southward on the east side of 32nd Street in Philadelphia between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. on September 30, 1972. Just after they crossed Berks Street, Spinks was fatally shot from the rear. A .22 caliber bullet entered the right back, passed through the liver, traveled at an angle through the middle of the body, and lodged in the left chest. On October 14, 1973, a rifle was thrown from a car being chased by Philadelphia police. The car was occupied by four individuals, including one James Davis, all of whom were arrested. Ballistics experts determined that the rifle was *296 the one used to shoot Spinks. Appellant did not became a suspect in the shooting until September 5, 1975, when Shelly Knox, who was being questioned about the unrelated killing of a storekeeper, said that appellant told him on October 1, 1972, that he had shot Spinks. Knox said that James Davis was later arrested with the weapon used to murder Spinks. Appellant was arrested at his home without a warrant at 6:35 a.m. on September 6, 1975. He gave a statement to the police in which he said that he broke into a car on the night of the shooting and took a .22 caliber rifle from which he fired a shot toward Spinks and Norwood. He gave the rifle away the next day. He said that he did not know who Spinks and Norwood were at the time of the shooting, but learned the next day that the decedent was someone known to him as "Chuckie," and that he had known the decedent for approximately two years. Appellant later repudiated the statement and attempted to have it suppressed. He testified at trial and denied involvement in the shooting. Appellant was eighteen at the time of the arrest and fifteen at the time of the shooting. Appellant argues that the evidence does not support the verdict. He claims that neither intent to kill nor malice can properly be inferred from the firing of a shot from a distance toward people appellant did not know. Therefore, in appellant's view, the degree of guilt could not rise higher than voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. He claims to be entitled to a discharge on the basis that the Statute of Limitations barred a manslaughter prosecution. We do not accept appellant's claim. We review the evidence in light of the standard set forth in Commonwealth v. Rose, 463 Pa. 264, 344 A.2d 824 (1975), where we stated that: It may be inferred from the evidence that appellant shot the decedent in a vital part of the body, allowing an inference of malice and premeditation. Commonwealth v. O'Searo, 466 Pa. 224, 352 A.2d 30 (1976). The inference may be drawn even if appellant shot the decedent from a distance and did not know him. See Commonwealth v. Kampo, 480 Pa. 516, 391 A.2d 1005 (1978). Appellant's argument that he should be discharged on the basis of the Statute of Limitations for voluntary manslaughter is meritless. Appellant next argues that the court erred in refusing to suppress his confession. He claims that since he was arrested in his house without a warrant in the absence of exigent circumstances, the arrest was, therefore, violative of the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. He further argues that the confession was a product of the illegal arrest, thereby rendering it inadmissible. While we have never been confronted with the issue of whether an arrest warrant is required to effectuate a valid arrest inside the arrestee's home,[1] said issue has been carefully considered in the various circuit courts. There, various cases have held that because of the Fourth Amendment and the substantial expectation of privacy in one's home, an arrest warrant is required to validly arrest someone in his home unless exigent circumstances exist to justify the warrantless intrusion. United States v. Reed, 572 F.2d 412 (2d Cir. 1978); United States v. Shye, 492 F.2d 886 (6th Cir. 1974); Dorman v. United States, 140 U.S.App.D.C. 313, 435 F.2d 385 (1970); and Vance v. North Carolina, 432 F.2d 984 (4th Cir. 1970). *298 As the United States Supreme Court stated in United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 561, 96 S. Ct. 3074, 3084, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1116 (1976), when discussing border-check-point stops: As the court stated in Dorman v. United States, supra, 140 U.S.App.D.C. at 320, 435 F.2d at 392-93: In the instant case, the following factors would weigh in favor of upholding the warrantless intrusion. First, the crime appellant was arrested for was murder, clearly a violent crime. Second, the police had more than sufficient probable cause to arrest appellant. Third, as the structure *300 entered was appellant's residence, police had good reason to believe appellant was present. Fourth, the arresting officers were admitted into the house by appellant's stepfather. Finally, the intrusion at 6:30 a.m. must be considered a daytime search. On the other hand, police had information that the rifle used in the instant homicide was in the possession of police, as another individual had been arrested and had possession of the rifle. Thus, the police had no reason to believe that appellant was armed at the time of arrest. Even more importantly, the instant homicide pre-dated the date of arrest by approximately three years. There was little need of swift apprehension. In our view, we believe these two factors outweigh the five factors militating in favor of allowing the warrantless intrusion. In United States v. Reed, supra, at 425, the court found the time factor to be crucial and we believe that, under these circumstances, the police should have obtained an arrest warrant. We thus believe appellant's arrest was illegal.[2] As the arrest of appellant was illegal, we must now determine if that fact requires suppression of appellant's confession. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S. Ct. 407, 417, 9 L. Ed. 2d 441 (1963), the test is Here, appellant confessed within a half hour of being taken to police headquarters. We thus believe the confession was directly related to the illegal arrest, and was not "sufficiently an act of free will." Commonwealth v. Bishop, 425 Pa. 175, 182-83, 228 A.2d 661, 665 (1967). *301 Appellant also alleges that the trial court erred in telling the jury, in response to a question, that his age had no bearing on his culpability, in admitting the murder weapon into evidence, in allowing testimony concerning appellant's association with one of the individuals arrested with the weapon, and is not allowing him to question prospective jurors as to whether they would be more inclined to believe a police officer than a civilian. Our finding that the arrest was improper makes it unnecessary to reach these issues. Judgment of sentence reversed and a new trial is granted. MANDERINO, J., filed a concurring opinion in which ROBERTS, J., joins. LARSEN, J., filed a dissenting opinion. EAGEN, C.J., concurs in the result. MANDERINO, Justice, concurring. Although I agree with the majority that appellant's arrest was invalid, and that his confession was the product of that illegal arrest, I cannot agree with the majority's conclusion that a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing may be inferred solely from the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body. Commonwealth v. O'Searo, 483 Pa. 286, 396 A.2d 1173 (1978) (concurring opinion of Manderino, J.). Commonwealth v. O'Searo, 466 Pa. 244, 352 A.2d 30 (1976) (dissenting opinion of Manderino, J., joined by Roberts, J.). Proof of the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body is sufficient to support an inference of malice only. In the cases in which we have upheld convictions of murder in the first degree, the evidence established not only the use of a weapon on a vital part of the body, but also other facts from which the fact finder could conclude that the killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated. Commonwealth v. Petrakovich, 459 Pa. 511, 329 A.2d 844, 848 (1974); Commonwealth v. Mosley, 444 Pa. 134, 279 A.2d 174 (1971); Commonwealth v. Hornberger, 441 Pa. 57, 270 A.2d 195 (1970); Commonwealth v. Ewing, 439 Pa. 88, 264 A.2d 661 (1970); Commonwealth v. Commander, 436 Pa. 532, 260 A.2d 773 (1970). *302 In this case, however, the majority relies on only one fact the firing of a shot from a distance toward people appellant did not know to support its conclusion that deliberation and premeditation, as well as malice, can be inferred. An inference of deliberation and premeditation can be made only if the evidence contains other facts such as: The majority's reliance on Commonwealth v. Kampo, 480 Pa. 516, 391 A.2d 1005 (1978) for the proposition that malice and premeditation can be inferred is misplaced. In Commonwealth v. Kampo, supra, two witnesses testified that appellant told them someone was going to die that day. Clearly, this testimony showed a plan to kill someone and therefore, a fact finder could find deliberation and premeditation. Here, there is no such additional evidence. ROBERTS, J., joins in this concurring opinion. LARSEN, Justice, dissenting. I dissent and in support thereof quote from Judge Hugh R. Jones of the New York Court of Appeals (that state's highest court) in his majority opinion in People v. Payton, 45 N.Y.2d 300, 309-312, 408 N.Y.S.2d 395, 399, 380 N.E.2d 224, 228-230 (1978): [1] In Commonwealth v. Flewellen, 475 Pa. 442, 380 A.2d 1217 (1977), we upheld the validity of a warrantless arrest in defendant's house. There, however, the defendant alleged only that the arrest was made without probable cause. We were not called upon to answer the question posed in the instant case. [2] Further, the police cannot justify the warrantless intrusion on the basis of hot pursuit, Warden v. Hayden [supra], or that the arrest was made in public. United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 96 S. Ct. 2406, 49 L. Ed. 2d 300 (1976).