J-S19012-18

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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

SAMUEL BENJAMIN ARTHUR 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 2300 EDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence October 31, 2016

In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division 

at No(s): CP-46-CR-0002488-2013

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., NICHOLS, J., and PLATT*, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SHOGAN, J.: FILED MAY 01, 2018

Samuel Benjamin Arthur (“Appellant”) appeals from the judgment of 

sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County on 

October 31, 2016. We affirm.

This case stems from Appellant’s sexual assault of a minor victim in 

October of 2011. The victim disclosed the assault to her father on February 

23, 2013. N.T., 7/28/15, at 26–30. Appellant was charged on April 2, 2013, 

with fifty-four counts of various sexual offenses, including Rape of a Child, 

Aggravated Indecent Assault of a Child, Indecent Assault of a Child under the 

Age of 13, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Corruption of Minors, Unlawful 
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Contact with a Minor, and Terroristic Threats.1 Following a three-day trial, the 

Commonwealth nolle prossed the count of Unlawful Contact with a Minor, and 

the jury convicted Appellant on seven counts of the remaining charges. The 

trial court sentenced Appellant on October 31, 2016, to incarceration for an 

aggregate term of fifteen to thirty years, followed by five years of probation. 

Appellant filed post-sentence motions on November 10, 2016, which the trial 

court denied. Order, 11/15/16. This appeal followed.2

Appellant presents a single question for our consideration: Did the Trial 

Court abuse its discretion in failing to grant [Appellant’s] post-sentence 

motion for a new trial based on the admission of inadmissible evidence that 

bolstered the complainant-victim’s credibility?” Appellant’s Brief at 2. The 

Commonwealth asserts that Appellant has waived this issue. 

Commonwealth’s Brief at 11. We agree that Appellant’s issue is waived.

The Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence “circumscribe the extent to which 

erroneous evidentiary rulings may be treated as sources of reversible trial 

court error.” Commonwealth v. Shank, 883 A.2d 658, 672 (Pa. Super. 

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1

 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3121(c), 3125(B), 3126(A)(7), 4304(A)(1), 6301(A)(1)(ii), 

6318(A)(1), 2706(A)(1), respectively.

2

 Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on December 14, 2016, but we 

dismissed that appeal on February 17, 2017, because Appellant failed to file 

a docketing statement pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 3517. Appellant sought 

reinstatement of his direct appeal rights nunc pro tunc, which the 

Commonwealth did not oppose and the trial court granted. Order, 6/16/17. 

Appellant then filed a timely notice of appeal.
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2005). Pursuant to Pa.R.E. 103, “[a] party may claim error in a ruling to admit 

. . . evidence only: (1) if the ruling admits evidence, a party, on the record: 

(A) makes a timely objection, motion to strike, or motion in limine; and (B) 

states the specific ground, unless it was apparent from the context.” Pa.R.E. 

103(a)(1) (emphasis supplied). See Commonwealth v. Rose, 172 A.3d 

1121, 1128 (Pa. Super. 2017) (holding defendant’s claim in Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) 

statement that challenged testimony constituted inadmissible hearsay was 

waived where trial counsel made bald objection without specificity at trial and 

focused argument in appellate brief on relevance).

Here, when the prosecutor asked the victim’s parents if they believed 

the victim’s allegations, defense counsel responded, “Objection” or “Objection, 

move to strike.” N.T., 7/28/15, at 39–40, 133–134. Counsel did not raise a

specific objection, let alone an objection based on the claim Appellant now 

presents on appeal, i.e, inadmissibility of the parents’ testimony as improperly 

bolstering the victim’s credibility. Appellant’s Brief at 7, 10–13. Moreover, 

Appellant proffers no argument that the specific ground was apparent from 

the context of the prosecutor’s examination. Additionally, as the 

Commonwealth asserts, if counsel explained his objection at a side bar, the 

notes of testimony in the certified record do not include a record of the side 

bar; therefore, no objection is available for appellate review. 

Commonwealth’s Brief at 12–13; N.T., 7/28/15, at 40. Accord Pa.R.A.P. 

1921, note (“An appellate court may consider only the facts which have been 
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duly certified in the record on appeal.”). Because Appellant’s objection was 

unspecified and did not posit the theory he attempts to advance on appeal, 

Pa.R.E. 103 precludes our consideration of the merits of Appellant’s issue. 

Similarly, to the extent that Appellant argues the trial court erred in 

admitting the testimony of the Commonwealth’s expert witness, Dr. Scribano, 

as improperly bolstering the victim’s credibility, that claim is also waived. The 

record reveals that Appellant did not raise this claim in the trial court by 

lodging a timely and specific objection to Dr. Scribano’s testimony. N.T., 

7/29/15, at 4–21. Pa.R.E. 103(a); see also Pa.R.A.P. 302(a) (“Issues not 

raised in the lower court are waived and cannot be raised for the first time on 

appeal.”).3

Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Judge Platt joins the Memorandum.

Judge Nichols concurs in the result.

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3

If Appellant had properly preserved his claims for appeal, upon review of 

the record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable legal authority, we 

would conclude that the trial court’s opinion filed on August 14, 2017, 

comprehensively disposed of them. Accordingly, we would affirm the 

judgment of sentence based upon the opinion of the Honorable Garrett D. 

Page.
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Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 5/1/18