Opinion ID: 2319241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rutherford Testimony

Text: Appellant next asserts that one of the Commonwealth's witnesses, Richard Rutherford, committed perjury at Appellant's first trial when he testified that he had not entered into a plea agreement. See Appellant's Brief at 44 (Argument IX). Appellant contends that it came to light at his penalty trial that Rutherford knew and was aware that the Commonwealth was not going to charge him at all or bring any evidence against him at the juvenile hearing if he cooperated, and, thus, that Rutherford's testimony was false. Id. at 44. Appellant concedes, however, that this issue is not technically an appellate issue from the sentencing proceeding, and that he is raising the argument now to avoid potential waiver of future collateral appeals. Id. As this issue is not properly before us, we do not address it further.
In addition to his claims based on the trial court's evidentiary rulings, Appellant raises numerous challenges to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711, which governs sentencing procedures in first-degree murder cases, all of which were raised before and rejected by the trial court as having been previously litigated before the Superior Court, either on Appellant's immediate appeal of the denial of his pre-trial motion to bar resentencing, Travaglia, 723 A.2d 190, or on the Commonwealth's appeal of the denial of its motion in limine prior to Appellant's new penalty hearing, Travaglia, 792 A.2d 1261. See Trial Court Opinion, at 5. We first address his general challenges to Section 9711.
Appellant contends that Section 9711 violates due process and equal protection by allowing imposition of the death penalty in an arbitrary fashion. See Appellant's Brief at 74 (Argument XVI). Specifically, he argues the statute fails to provide specific guidelines that would assist the jury in [weighing] aggravating and mitigating factors, thereby ensuring consistence, as well as a rational and fair application of the statute. Appellant's Brief at 74. He further claims the statute allows complete and unbridled discretion on the part of the prosecutor in determining whether or not to apply the death penalty, and allows for different standards to be established by each of the prosecutors in the 67 different counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without the existence of any guidelines. Id. at 74-75. This Court, however, rejected this same argument in Commonwealth v. DeHart, 512 Pa. 235, 516 A.2d 656 (1986) (finding the death penalty statute constitutional and rejecting the argument that prosecutorial discretion in seeking the death penalty violates due process by allowing for arbitrary selection of its imposition). Thus, Appellant's argument fails. Appellant next argues that subsection (d)(1) of Section 9711, which provides for an aggravating circumstance where the victim is, inter alia, a state, local, or federal law enforcement official, is unconstitutional because it arbitrarily and unfairly places a higher worth or value on the lives of law enforcement and/or governmental authorities, thereby violating notions of fundamental fairness and equal protection in both the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions, and violating the fundamental notion in constitutional law that all men are created equal. See Appellant's Brief at 75 (Argument XVII). This Court repeatedly has upheld the aggravator set forth in Section 9711(d)(1) against the same constitutional challenge raised by Appellant. See Commonwealth v. Abdul-Salaam, 544 Pa. 514, 678 A.2d 342 (1996); Commonwealth v. Bracey, 541 Pa. 322, 662 A.2d 1062 (1995); Commonwealth v. Gibbs, 533 Pa. 539, 626 A.2d 133 (1993). Thus, Appellant's argument on this issue, the totality of which is set forth above, also is without merit.
Several of Appellant's challenges to Section 9711 specifically relate to the 1988 amendments. Prior to the 1988 amendments, this Court had the authority to either affirm a sentence of death or remand the matter for imposition of a life imprisonment sentence. Commonwealth v. Wharton, 542 Pa. 83, 88, 665 A.2d 458, 460 (1995) (citing 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(h)(2)). The 1988 amendments to Section 9711, however, require that a new sentencing hearing be conducted whenever a sentence of death is vacated, except where it is vacated for disproportionality or lack of aggravating factors. 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 9711(h)(4). [13] Appellant argues, inter alia, that the 1988 amendments to Section 9711 violate his equal protection and due process rights because the amendments arbitrarily create a class of individuals who must face the death penalty instead of a life sentence, simply because those individuals did not obtain relief prior to 1988. See Appellant's Brief at 41, 51 (Arguments VIII, XII). In support of his argument, Appellant avers that, had his direct appeal of his judgment of sentence been correctly decided by this Court prior to 1988, when Section 9711(h) required a remand for imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment in instances where this Court vacated a defendant's sentence of death, he would not have been subjected to the possibility of a second death sentence under the amended version of Section 9711. Appellant's Brief at 42. Thus, Appellant claims he is subjected to harsher punishment than individuals who had their death sentences vacated by this Court prior to 1988. This Court, however, has repeatedly rejected the argument that retroactive application of Section 9711(h)(4) offends a defendant's due process and equal protection rights, and we have held that application of Section 9711(h)(4) is constitutionally permissible. See Commonwealth v. Chambers, 546 Pa. 370, 381-82, 685 A.2d 96, 102 (1996) (holding that application of Section 9711(h) as amended did not deprive appellant of any constitutional right); Commonwealth v. Young, 536 Pa. 57, 66, 637 A.2d 1313, 1317 (1993) (rejecting appellant's argument that retroactive application of Section 9711(h) deprived him of the right to have his death sentence automatically modified to life imprisonment and the right not to face the possibility of a death sentence). Accordingly, we reject Appellant's due process and equal protection challenges to the 1988 amendments to Section 9711. In a separate argument, Appellant also contends that application of the 1988 amendments to his case constitutes an ex post facto law. See Appellant's Brief at 73 (Argument XV). In so arguing, Appellant merely states: Defendant adopts as his argument on this issue Justice Cappy's dissent in Commonwealth v. Young ,  which he then proceeds to quote at length. Unfortunately for Appellant, the argument upon which he relies was the basis of the dissent in Young, and was not adopted by a majority of this Court, which concluded Section 9711(h) as amended did not deprive appellant of any substantial right protected by the Ex Post Facto Clause. Young, 536 Pa. at 67, 637 A.2d at 1318. Further, indeed, we have since reiterated that application of the 1988 amendments to Section 9711 does not violate the ex post facto clause. See Lesko, 553 Pa. at 239-40, 719 A.2d at 220. Thus, Appellant's argument on this point is without merit. Appellant further maintains there is no statutory authority under the Sentencing Code for a remand for a new sentencing hearing, as opposed to the automatic imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment, in his case. See Appellant's Brief at 68 (Argument XIV). [14] In making this argument, Appellant first emphasizes that it was not this Court, but rather the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a civil habeas corpus proceeding, which vacated his death sentence. As a result, Appellant argues that his appellate remedies in Pennsylvania terminated before the 1988 amendment was enacted, and the new provisions of Section 9711(h)(4), which refer to determinations by the Supreme Court, see supra note 13, can never come into effect in this case. Appellant's Brief at 70. Appellant further argues that, to the extent the 1988 amendments were intended to apply to all criminal offenses committed on or after the effective date of this act and to all criminal cases and appeals pending on the effective date of this act, the term pending should be interpreted to mean pending on appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Id. at 70, 71. As his case was not pending before this Court at the time his death sentence was vacated, Appellant maintains that the 1988 amendment to Section 9711 is inapplicable to his case. This Court, however, considered and rejected the same argument in Lesko, supra : Appellant further asserts that the resentencing provision does not apply where a death sentence has been vacated by any court other than the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He relies on the following language in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h)(4):  If the Supreme Court determines that the death penalty must be vacated for any other reason [i.e., reasons other than disproportionality or lack of evidence of aggravating circumstances], it shall remand for a new sentencing hearing pursuant to subsections (a) through (g). Appellant reasons that because the statute does not specify what is to occur when courts other than this one vacate a sentence, the legislature must have intended that there would be no new sentencing hearing and that a remand for imposition of a life sentence would occur. Such an approach would lead, however, to a highly irrational sentencing scheme. Those whose sentences are vacated by this court would be in a far worse position than those whose sentences are vacated by other courts, since the former would be at risk of incurring another death sentence while the latter would not. The legislature cannot be deemed to have intended such an illogical result. See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1922(1) (presumption that the legislature did not intend a result that is absurd or unreasonable). Further, appellant asserts that the resentencing provision is inapplicable to cases that were pending before any court other than the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at the time of the 1988 amendment. Appellant notes that, because we completed appellate and post-conviction review of this matter in 1986, this case was not pending before us at the time of the 1988 amendment. The statute contains no language, however, that makes it applicable only to cases pending in a particular court. In fact, the legislature expressly designated that the amendment should be applied to  all criminal cases and appeals pending on the effective date of this act. Act of 1988, Dec. 21, P.L. 1862, No. 179, § 3 (emphasis added). This plainly sets no limits as to the courts in which cases and appeals were pending. 553 Pa. at 240-41, 719 A.2d at 220 (emphasis and alterations original). Accordingly, we reject Appellant's argument that, under the present version of Section 9711(h)(4), he may not be subjected to a new sentencing hearing.
Appellant next contends that his prosecution for the murder of Officer Miller is barred under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 110 and this Court's holding in Commonwealth v. McPhail , Pa. 519, 692 A.2d 139 (1997). See Appellant's Brief at 52 (Argument XIII). In McPhail, a plurality of this Court [15] concluded that courts of common pleas enjoy jurisdiction all over the Commonwealth; in other words, the subject matter jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas is general and not limited to the territory of the county wherein the courts sit. We reasoned that, under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 110, charges arising from crimes committed in different counties, but which constituted a single criminal episode, were in the jurisdiction of a single court. In the instant case, the trial court rejected Appellant's claim, finding it was previously considered and rejected by the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Travaglia, 723 A.2d at 195. In Commonwealth v. Lesko, ____ Pa. ____, 15 A.3d 345, 367 n. 13 (2011), [16] Lesko similarly argued that prosecution for the murder of Officer Miller should have been barred under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 110 and McPhail as a result of his guilty plea to the murder of William Nichols because the two murders were part of a single criminal episode. This Court explained that, notwithstanding Lesko's attempt to frame an issue under McPhail as a resentencing claim, such a claim is a guilt-phase claim, and, as such, is subject to the time limitations of the PCRA. For the following reasons, Appellant's McPhail claim must likewise be viewed as a guilt-phase claim, and, therefore, is subject to the time limitations of the PCRA. Appellant's judgment of sentence became final in 1984, after his petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court was denied. Appellant's subsequent PCHA petition was denied in 1985; thus, Appellant did not qualify for the one-year tolling provision contained in the 1995 amendments to the PCRA. See Commonwealth v. Fahy, 558 Pa. 313, 321, 737 A.2d 214, 218 (1999) (where a judgment of sentence becomes final on or before the effective date of the amendments to the PCRA, a petition will be deemed timely if the petitioner's first petition is filed within one year of the effective date of the amendments). Appellant therefore had until January 16, 1996, the date the 1995 amendments to the PCRA took effect, to file a second or subsequent PCRA petition raising claims from his 1981 guilt trial. Appellant did not raise the instant claim until 1997, when he filed his omnibus pre-trial motion with the trial court. Accordingly, as in Lesko, Appellant's claim is time-barred under the PCRA.
Appellant next alleges the Commonwealth should have been precluded from seeking the death penalty based on an alleged representation made by the District Attorney of Westmoreland County, Albert Nichols, during plea negotiations concerning additional pending cases against Appellant, wherein D.A. Nichols purportedly indicated that, in the event of a retrial for the murder of Officer Miller, he would not seek the death penalty. See Appellant's Brief at 76 (Argument XVIII). The trial court, in rejecting this claim, noted that it had been raised and rejected by the Superior Court in Travaglia, 723 A.2d at 196. Appellant presently avers that both he and his attorney, Westmoreland County Public Defender Dante Bertani, testified that the alleged promise by D.A. Nichols was a significant factor in Appellant's decision to plead guilty to the Levato and Newcomer homicides, and he argues that this testimony stands alone, as the Commonwealth failed to call any witnesses, including D.A. Nichols, Assistant D.A. Timothy Geary, or the Honorable Donetta Ambrose, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, to contradict it. Appellant further maintains that [m]erely because the agreement does not appear to be reflected on the record does not, in and of itself, mean that it did not take place or was not an inducement to [Appellant] to plead guilty. Appellant's Brief at 77. As this Court explained in Commonwealth v. Spence, where a plea agreement has been entered of record and accepted by the trial court, the state is required to abide by the terms of the plea agreement. Prior to entry of the plea, however, a defendant has no right to specific performance of the agreement. 534 Pa. 233, 248, 627 A.2d 1176, 1184 (1993). The Superior Court, in addressing Appellant's contention that, in exchange for Appellant's guilty plea to the Levato and Newcomer homicides, D.A. Nichols agreed that he would not seek the death penalty in any retrial for the murder of Officer Miller, determined: Contrary to Appellant's contention, the plea colloquy indicates that the guilty pleas would not be used as aggravating circumstances should the Miller case be retried. There is no mention that the District Attorney represented that he would not seek the death penalty based on other aggravating circumstances, i.e., the police officer's death. Therefore, Appellant's claim is meritless. Travaglia, 723 A.2d at 196. Upon review of the transcript of Appellant's guilty pleas, we find the Superior Court is correct in its determination that, based on the plea colloquy, D.A. Nichols agreed only that the Commonwealth would not introduce evidence of Appellant's guilty pleas as aggravating circumstances to support imposition of the death penalty, not that the Commonwealth would not seek the death penalty in the event of a retrial in the Miller case. Indeed, as the Commonwealth argues, [h]ad an agreement not to seek the death penalty existed, there would have been no need to have an agreement not to use the Newcomer and Levato homicides as aggravating circumstances in the event of a retrial. Commonwealth's Brief at 66. As the record does not support Appellant's assertion that D.A. Nichols agreed not to seek the death penalty in any retrial, Appellant is not entitled to relief.
Finally, pursuant to the Sentencing Code, this Court is required to conduct a statutory review of the death sentence and we must affirm the sentence unless we determine that: (i) the sentence of death was the product of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; or (ii) the evidence fails to support the finding of at least one aggravating circumstance. . . 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(h)(3). After careful review, we conclude that the sentence of death was not a product of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; rather, it was based on the evidence presented at trial, namely, the deliberate shooting and killing of Officer Miller. Furthermore, the evidence supports the jury's finding of at least one aggravating circumstance, namely, that the victim was a police officer killed in the performance of his duty, which the jury determined outweighed the two mitigating circumstances that Appellant had lived as a well-adjusted inmate in prison, and that he had changed his life and adopted a Christian lifestyle. Accordingly, we affirm the verdict and the judgment of sentence of death imposed upon Appellant by the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County. [17] Former Justice GREENSPAN did not participate in the decision of this case. Chief Justice CASTILLE and Justices EAKIN, BAER and McCAFFERY join the opinion.