J-S39023-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

MANUEL ANDRES SANTANA DEL 

ROSARIO 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 1737 MDA 2022

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 14, 2022

In the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County Criminal Division at 

No(s): CP-54-CR-0000320-2022

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and McCAFFERY, J.

MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED: DECEMBER 15, 2023

Manuel Andres Santana Del Rosario appeals from the judgment of 

sentence imposed on his convictions for two counts of aggravated assault and 

one count each of possessing instruments of crime (“PIC”), simple assault, 

and recklessly endangering another person (“REAP”).

1 He challenges the 

sufficiency of the evidence as well as both the discretionary aspects and 

legality of his sentence. We affirm.

The trial court aptly summarized the facts relevant to this appeal as 

follows: 

The evidence at [the jury] trial included testimony from the 

victim Edwin Candelario. According to Mr. Candelario, he 

operated a stand at Renninger’s Market, a flea market-type 

of establishment, where he sold household goods and 

sports-related items. [Rosario] was a customer at the stand, 

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1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2702(a)(1), 2702(a)(4), 907(a), 2701(a)(1), and 2705, 

respectively. 
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and, as of February 4, 2022, [Rosario] owed Candelario 

about $80.00 for items that he had purchased. Early that 

day, [Rosario] was in contact via cellphone with Candelario. 

[Rosario] insisted on paying Candelario $50.00 toward his 

debt, and that Candelario travel to [Rosario’s] home to 

receive the money. Candelario agreed.

Candelario and his girlfriend drove to [Rosario’s] home in 

Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County that morning, and upon 

arrival at the home they were met outside by [Rosario] who 

invited them into the home. Upon their entry into the home, 

[Rosario] placed $50.00 on a table for Candelario to 

retrieve. Candelario picked up the money and he and his 

girlfriend left the home. However, [Rosario] followed 

Candelario and his girlfriend to their vehicle where he made 

a comment to Candelario’s girlfriend which annoyed 

Candelario. The latter told [Rosario] that if he needed to say 

something it should be said to Candelario. [Rosario] then 

asked Candelario to come back into his home so they could 

finish talking. 

Candelario agreed, and he and his girlfriend re-entered 

[Rosario’s] home, whereupon [Rosario] pulled out a gun, 

stuck it in Candelario’s face, grabbed Candelario by the 

neck, and told him to sit down. Candelario sat on a couch, 

with his girlfriend sitting next to him. [Rosario] sat in a chair 

directly in front of Candelario with the gun in his hand. 

Candelario asked [Rosario] what the problem was, and why 

[Rosario] had a gun pointed at him. Candelario told 

[Rosario] that they could just forget “about this,” and that 

“this never happened.”

[Rosario] responded in Spanish, “Rat,” and told Candelario 

to get on his knees. Candelario got on his knees on the floor. 

[Rosario] then told Candelario to put his hands on his head, 

which he did. Candelario was then hit on the head by 

[Rosario], and he fell toward his girlfriend’s lap. As 

Candelario was trying to return to his original position, 

[Rosario] threw a punch at Candelario’s face with his fist. 

Candelario blocked the punch, got up and hurried to the 

front door of the premises in an effort to exit the house. 

Candelario found that the front door was locked. As 

Candelario was trying to unlock the door, he was shot once 

in the arm and once in [the] area of the rib cage by 

[Rosario].
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Candelario was able to escape from the house, but [Rosario] 

followed him to the street where, Candelario testified, 

[Rosario] shot at him again. Candelario ran to the Mahanoy 

City police station, which was located close to [Rosario’s] 

home, and banged on the door. Chief of Police Thomas 

Rentscher answered the door to the police station, saw 

Candelario bleeding profusely and got him inside the station 

where Candelario received emergency treatment, including 

the application of a tourniquet by the Code Enforcement 

Officer. Emergency medical services were summoned, and 

Basic and Advance Life Support personnel treated 

Candelario at the police station. He was subsequently lifeflighted to Geisinger Medical Center where he remained as 

a patient for over a week. According to Candelario, he had 

not made any threats toward [Rosario], nor did he possess 

a weapon while at [Rosario’s] home the day of the shooting. 

Dr. Robert Garvin, a vascular surgeon at Geisinger Medical 

center testified that Candelario was treated surgically for a 

right upper extremity arterial injury, namely a radial artery 

tear in the forearm and hemorrhage, to control the bleeding 

and attempt to repair the injury to the artery. According to 

Dr. Garvin, the injury to the artery was serious, and without 

successful treatment posed a risk of death, or loss of limb 

or function to Candelario. Doctor Garvin determined during 

surgery that the artery was too damaged for the broken 

ends to be “brought together,” so the decision was made to 

“tie them off.” Candelario underwent several medical 

procedures thereafter to close the wound, and was released 

from the doctor’s care after his last visit on March 2, 2022. 

Investigating police officers who examined the scene of the 

shooting identified bullet strikes to the inside of the door to 

[Rosario’s] home, and interviewed [Rosario] and his wife 

who had been present at the time of the shooting. [Rosario] 

admitted at trial that he had shot Candelario, and that he 

had ordered Candelario to get on his knees at gunpoint. 

However, [Rosario] claimed that he would not have shot 

Candelario if [Candelario] had allowed [Rosario] to search 

him for weapons, [if Candelario] had not hit [Rosario] as he 

was getting up from the floor when [Rosario] had the gun 

pointed at Candelario, or if Candelario had not reached 

toward his pocket as he was trying to get out of the front 
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door.[

2] No evidence produced at trial indicated that 

Candelario possessed any weapon the day of the shooting.

Trial Court Rule 1925(a) Opinion, filed 2/13/23, at 2-5. The jury found Rosario 

guilty of the above-referenced crimes. The trial court sentenced him to seven 

to 15 years’ incarceration for aggravated assault followed by one year of

reporting probation, a consecutive sentence of one year of probation for PIC, 

and a concurrent term of one year of probation for REAP.3 This timely appeal 

followed. 

Rosario raises the following issues:

1. Did the Commonwealth fail to establish sufficient 

evidence to support a conviction for the charge of 

aggravated assault?

2. Did the [c]ourt err by imposing an aggravated range 

sentence without considering the mitigating 

circumstances raised in the pre-sentence report and by 

[Rosario]?

3. Did the charges [sic] of recklessly endangering arise from 

the same event as the aggravated assault for sentencing 

purposes and should a separate sentence not have been 

imposed?

Rosario’s Br. at 5 (suggested answers omitted). 

Rosario’s first issue challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for 

aggravated assault. However, in his appellate brief, he concedes that “[t]he 

Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to support the conviction of 

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2 Rosario testified that the victim hit Rosario in his face while the victim was 

kneeling on the floor. See N.T., Trial, at 286, 287.

3 The court imposed no further penalty for aggravated assault with a deadly 

weapon and the simple assault conviction merged for sentencing purposes. 
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aggravated assault and the argument is without merit.” Id. at 20 (emphasis 

added). As he has in effect abandoned this claim, it cannot afford him relief. 

In his next issue, Rosario challenges the discretionary aspects of his 

sentence, claiming that the court imposed an aggravated sentence without 

considering the mitigating circumstances. 

We review a challenge to the discretionary aspects of sentence for an 

abuse of discretion. See Commonwealth v. Zeigler, 112 A.3d 656, 661 

(Pa.Super. 2015). Such challenges are not automatically appealable. Rather,

we must first determine whether: 1) the appellant has filed a timely notice of 

appeal; 2) the issue was properly preserved at sentencing or in a motion to 

reconsider and modify sentence; 3) the appellant’s brief has a fatal defect; 

and 4) there is a substantial question that the sentence appealed from is not 

appropriate under the Sentencing Code. See Commonwealth v. Moury, 992 

A.2d 162, 170 (Pa.Super. 2010). “Objections to the discretionary aspects of a 

sentence are generally waived if they are not raised at the sentencing hearing 

or raised in a motion to modify the sentence imposed at that hearing.”

Commonwealth v. Hyland, 875 A.2d 1175, 1183 (Pa.Super. 2005).

Rosario has met the first requirement of the above test. However, he 

did not preserve his issue at sentencing or in a motion to reconsider or modify 

his sentence. The claim is waived. See id.

In his final issue, Rosario argues his convictions for REAP and 

aggravated assault should have merged for sentencing purposes. He claims 
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REAP is a lesser included offense of aggravated assault and therefore he “can 

only be sentenced on the aggravated assault.” Rosario’s Br. at 23-24. 

“A claim that crimes should have merged for sentencing purposes raises 

a challenge to the legality of the sentence.” Commonwealth v. Cianci, 130 

A.3d 780, 782 (Pa.Super. 2015) (citation omitted). “[O]ur standard of review 

is de novo and our scope of review is plenary.” Id. (citation omitted). 

“No crimes shall merge for sentencing purposes unless the crimes arise 

from a single criminal act and all of the statutory elements of one offense are 

included in the statutory elements of the other offense.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9765.

Rosario’s claim lacks merit. The crime of aggravated assault requires 

causing or attempting to cause serious bodily injury, while REAP requires a 

showing of actual danger of death or serious bodily injury. See 18 Pa.C.S.A. 

§ 2702(a)(1); cf. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2705 (defining REAP as “recklessly 

engag[ing] in conduct which places or may place another person in danger of 

death or serious bodily injury”). Because all the elements of REAP are not 

included in aggravated assault, REAP is not a lesser included offense of 

aggravated assault. The crimes should not have merged for sentencing 

purposes. See Commonwealth v. Edwards, 256 A.3d 1130, 1138 (Pa. 

2021) (“Since all of the statutory elements of REAP are not contained in 

aggravated assault, they do not merge for sentencing purposes”). We affirm 

the judgment of sentence. 
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Judgment of sentence affirmed. 

Judgment Entered.

Benjamin D. Kohler, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 12/15/2023