Title: Com. v. Dear

State: pennsylvania

Issuer: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Document:

342 Pa. Superior Ct. 191 (1985) 492 A.2d 714 COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Phinas DEAR, Jr., Appellant. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued November 2, 1983. Filed May 3, 1985. *192 Paul Lichtenstein, Harrisburg, for appellant. Katherene Holtzinger, Assistant District Attorney, Harrisburg, for Commonwealth, appellee. Before WICKERSHAM, WIEAND and CERCONE, JJ. *193 WICKERSHAM, Judge: On July 28, 1981, appellant Phinas Dear, Jr. was arrested and charged with the rape and robbery of Edith Raup. The prosecutrix alleges that on the evening of July 1, 1981, she went to the Verbeke Bar on the corner of Third and Verbeke Streets, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with the intention of celebrating her 21st birthday which was to occur the following day. She further testified that appellant came into the bar at approximately 6:00 p.m. that evening and approached her and asked her to have sex with him. Successfully rebuking appellant, the prosecutrix no longer was aware of his presence in the bar. The prosecutrix further testified that after having several drinks she left the bar around 10:00 p.m. to get some fresh air. As she walked back to the bar, she saw appellant with a handgun. Appellant approached the prosecutrix, called her derogatory names, grabbed her with one hand, and slapped her with the other. She testified that appellant forced her into an alley behind the bar where he robbed her of $100. Appellant then forced the prosecutrix further down the alley where he forcibly raped her, discharged the gun beside her head and subsequently inserted the barrel of the handgun in her vagina. After this incident, the prosecutrix walked with appellant back towards the bar where she saw a friend's car and ran toward it to escape. Ms. Raup then proceeded to call the police and upon their arrival, gave her statement. She was taken to Harrisburg Polyclinic Hospital and examined by Dr. John O'Shea, who collected evidence by using a sex crimes kit. He said that the patient bordered on being hysterical at that point. An external examination revealed that Edith Raup had bruises on her forearms, face and back and bruising on both breasts that would be consistent with finger marks. Dr. O'Shea's internal examination revealed a tear at the entrance to the vagina, which improbably could have been caused by normal vaginal intercourse, but was more consistent with the type of injury which would result from a blunt instrument being forced into her vagina. *194 Edith Raup detailed a further incident the next evening with appellant. She testified that appellant abducted her at gunpoint from in front of the Verbeke Bar and drove her to a rural area where he threatened to kill her if she went to the police. Ms. Raup was then returned to the area of the Verbeke Bar and as appellant drove away, she noted the car's license number and reported the number and alleged incident to the police. The auto was traced to appellant's spouse and Edith Raup identified appellant from photos prior to his arrest on July 28, 1981. At the time of his arrest, appellant denied knowing Edith Raup or being in the area of the Verbeke Bar on July 1, 1981. During an interview on August 10, 1981, appellant denied raping Edith Raup or having sexual intercourse with her. A court order was obtained for the extraction of a pubic hair from appellant for comparison with a foreign pubic hair found in the combing of Edith Raup. A chemist with the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Laboratory, James L. Miller, testified that these hair samples were found to be virtually identical when examined under a high-powered microscope. Appellant testified at trial that he was solicited by Edith Raup and he knew her to be a prostitute. He stated that they left the bar on July 1, 1981 to go to a motel, but decided to have sex in an overgrown vacant lot. Appellant was found guilty of both rape and robbery. Post-trial motions were filed and denied and on April 8, 1982 appellant was sentenced to not less than five nor more than ten years imprisonment on the rape conviction and not less than two nor more than five years imprisonment on the robbery conviction. A timely appeal was taken. In this appeal, the following issues are raised: Brief for Appellant at 6. Turning to the first issue raised on appeal, we note that at trial Paul Lichtenstein, Esquire, made the following offer into evidence of the victim's prior criminal record: Record at 92-93. The Pennsylvania Rape Shield Law provides in pertinent part: 18 Pa.C.S. § 3104. In Commonwealth v. Boone, 319 Pa.Super. 358, 466 A.2d 198 (1983), appellant was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy. The facts of the case indicated that on October 2, 1980, the victim, aged 14, was waiting for a bus to transport her to school when she encountered her former boyfriend, Maurice Bussey, who invited her to the home of Parnell Canaday, also a former boyfriend. Id., 319 Pa.Superior Ct. at 360-62, 363-65, 466 A.2d at 199-200, 201-02 (footnotes omitted). We hold that Boone is controlling in the instant appeal. The offer of evidence at trial was to show that the victim's prior criminal record, consisting of three prior convictions of criminal solicitation and prostitution, indicated her consent to having sexual intercourse with appellant on the occasion at hand. As such, it represented intended evidence of prior sexual conduct with third persons, clearly prohibited under the legislative act and under our interpretation thereof in Boone. Nor is our result changed by our recent en banc decision in Commonwealth v. Black, 337 Pa.Super. 548, 487 A.2d 396 (1985) in which appellant was charged with statutory rape and related crimes involving his thirteen year old daughter. The facts in the Black case were set forth in the following manner: At 337 Pa.Super. 550-552, 487 A.2d 397-398 (footnotes omitted). In Black we pointed out that the evidence of prior sexual conduct was offered to impeach the prosecutrix by revealing a specific bias against and hostility toward appellant and a motive to seek retribution by, perhaps, false accusation.[1] *202 Instantly, appellant wanted to put the victim's criminal record for prostitution into evidence in order to substantiate his own testimony that she was a prostitute and had agreed to have sex with him for money. In other words, appellant was attempting to prove her consent, not her bias toward him specifically. Therefore, Black is not controlling, because both Black and the statute itself (18 Pa.C.S. § 3104) hold that evidence of sexual conduct with third persons is irrelevant to prove either consent or general moral defect of the victim.[2] There is no merit whatsoever in the remaining two contentions raised on this appeal both of which were adequately covered and discussed in the opinion by the Honorable Clarence C. Morrison dated March 25, 1982, which opinion we rely on in answer to the second and third issues. Judgment of sentence affirmed. [1] Judge Cavanaugh said in Commonwealth v. Black, supra: While we hold that Pennsylvania's Rape Shield Law may not be used to exclude relevant evidence showing witness' bias or attacking credibility, we do not hold that all material evidence is necessarily admissible. Although logically relevant, evidence tending to show the victim's prejudice or lack of credibility may be excluded if `it would so inflame the minds of the jurors that its probative value is outweighed by unfair prejudice.' Commonwealth v. Stewart, 304 Pa.Super. 382, 387, 450 A.2d 732, 734 (1982) (quoting Commonwealth v. Strube, 274 Pa.Super. 199, 216, 418 A.2d 365, 374 (1979) (citations omitted), cert. denied 449 U.S. 992 [101 S. Ct. 527, 66 L. Ed. 2d 288] (1980)). Cf. Fed.R.Evid. 403 (`Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. . . .'). This balancing determination between probative value and unfair prejudice should be made by the trial court in an in camera hearing similar to that outlined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3104(b). At this hearing, the trial court should determine the following as a matter of record to be preserved for appellate review: (1) whether the proposed evidence is relevant to show bias or motive or to attack credibility; (2) whether the probative value of the evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect; and (3) whether there are alternative means of proving bias or motive to challenge credibility. At 401 (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted). [2] We have already determined that the exclusion of this evidence does not constitute a denial of appellant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. See Commonwealth v. Quartman, 312 Pa.Super. 349, 458 A.2d 994 (1983) (Opinion by Hoffman, J.).