Opinion ID: 1443106
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence and Diminished Capacity

Text: Appellant asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support a guilty verdict on the charge of first-degree murder because he claims diminished capacity at the time of the murder, and that the Commonwealth therefore failed to prove he acted with specific intent to kill. Even in the absence of Appellant's contention, this Court must review the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction for first-degree murder in every case in which the death penalty has been imposed. See Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 454 A.2d 937, 942 n. 3 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must decide whether the evidence admitted at trial, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in favor of the Commonwealth, as verdict winner, support the jury's finding of all the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Overby, 575 Pa. 227, 836 A.2d 20, 22 (2003). In applying this standard of review, we bear in mind that the Commonwealth may sustain its burden by means of wholly circumstantial evidence; the entire trial record should be evaluated and all evidence received considered, whether or not the trial court's rulings thereon were correct; and the trier of fact, while passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the proof, is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence. See Commonwealth v. Watkins, 577 Pa. 194, 843 A.2d 1203, 1211 (2003). In order to sustain a finding of first-degree murder, the evidence must establish that (1) a human being was unlawfully killed; (2) the person accused is responsible for the killing; and (3) the accused acted with a specific intent to kill. See 18 Pa.C.S.  2502(a); Commonwealth v. Spotz, 563 Pa. 269, 759 A.2d 1280, 1283 (2000). An intentional killing is a killing by means of poison or by lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing. 18 Pa.C.S.  2502(d). Specific intent to kill can be established through circumstantial evidence such as the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victim's body. Addressing each of these three elements, we first note that the Commonwealth had the burden to establish that Robin's death was a homicide. See 18 Pa.C.S.  2502(a)(1). According to forensic evidence, Robin suffered six stab wounds about her body and neck, eight superficial stab wounds to her neck, and a deep stab wound to the abdomen. She also had contusions on her neck, hemorrhages in her eyes and a fractured hyoid bone. [13] Dr. Leon Rozin, a board certified forensic pathologist, indicated that the contusions on Robin's neck could be attributed to manual compression. He further testified that eye hemorrhages are usually the result of compression of the neck and that the fracture of the hyoid bone could have resulted from either such compression or as a result of penetration by the knife. He further determined that Robin had multiple contusions on her face and a pattern injury on her left shoulder. Dr. Rozin concluded that the cause of death was compression of the neck, more commonly referred to as strangulation, as well as multiple stab wounds to the neck and a deep stab wound to the abdomen. No evidence was offered at trial that contradicted the forensic evidence or the expert opinion regarding the cause of death. Thus, the jury properly concluded that Robin's death was a homicide. Next, the Commonwealth had the burden of proving that Appellant was responsible for the death. See 18 Pa.C.S.  2502(a)(2). The evidence adduced at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, established that Robin was involved in an abusive relationship with Appellant. When confronted with the thought that she might be involved with another man, Appellant brutally raped her. Ten days later, despite a temporary PFA order, forbidding Appellant to have any contact with Robin, he convinced her to meet him to talk about their son. When Appellant came to Robin's home at 1:30 a.m. and found her on the porch talking to a man, the couple began to argue. He assaulted her, dragged her to a vacant lot, raped her again, strangled her, and stabbed her to death. No evidence was offered at trial suggesting that any one else except Appellant was involved. Consequently, the jury properly concluded that Appellant was responsible for the killing. Finally, the Commonwealth had the burden of proving that Appellant acted with a specific intent to kill. See 18 Pa.C.S.  2502(a)(3). As noted above, the evidence presented at trial established that the victim was stabbed over fifteen times and strangled. The repeated use of a deadly weapon upon vital parts of the victim's body is sufficient to demonstrate a specific intent to kill beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 584 Pa. 29, 880 A.2d 608, 611 (2005). Moreover, evidence of manual strangulation is also sufficient to establish specific intent required for first-degree murder. See Commonwealth v. Simmons, 541 Pa. 211, 662 A.2d 621, 628-29 (1995), appeal denied, 516 U.S. 1128, 116 S.Ct. 945, 133 L.Ed.2d 870 (1996). Additionally, specific intent to kill can be inferred from circumstantial evidence of prior verbal threats of murder and prior physical abuse. See Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 510 Pa. 603, 511 A.2d 764 (1986) (finding sufficient evidence of specific intent to kill based on defendant's numerous physical assaults on his wife and his threats, heard by others to kill his wife and burn their house down). Appellant does not dispute that he fatally strangled and stabbed Robin. Instead, as noted above, he challenges the third element of first-degree murder: that he acted with the specific intent to kill. Appellant claims that he had diminished capacity at the time of the murder and thus lacked such specific intent. Appellant acknowledges that the Commonwealth presented testimony from Detective Logan, who spoke to Appellant on the afternoon of the murder, and Ms. Britton, who spoke to Appellant less than an hour before and again less than an hour after the murder. Both of these witnesses testified that Appellant appeared to be coherent and in control of his emotions. Appellant, however, claims that neither of these witnesses had any opportunity or interest in evaluating his mental state. Instead, he asks us to consider the testimony of Attorney Roslyn Guy-McCorkle and Dr. Lawson Bernstein, who he claims established that he was acting under a diminished capacity that prevented him from formulating the requisite specific intent for a first-degree murder conviction. The Commonwealth submits that the evidence presented was more than sufficient to allow the jury to reject Appellant's claim of diminished capacity and find that he had the specific intent to kill. First, it contends that the lay testimony from Attorney Guy-McCorkle was vague and inconclusive. Next, the Commonwealth points out several inconsistencies between what Appellant's medical records actually say and Dr. Bernstein's interpretations of them, upon which he based his expert opinion (discussed in detail infra ). A defense of diminished capacity admits liability, while contesting the degree of culpability based upon a defendant's inability to possess a particular mental state. Commonwealth v. Hughes, 581 Pa. 274, 865 A.2d 761, 788 (2004). In order to assert a successful diminished capacity defense, a defendant must provide extensive psychiatric testimony establishing a defendant suffered from one or more mental disorders which prevented him from formulating the specific intent to kill. Commonwealth v. Cuevas, 574 Pa. 409, 832 A.2d 388, 392 (2003) (holding that episodes of wild behavior and observations by lay witnesses of schizophrenic conduct following a killing have absolutely no bearing on whether at the time of the killing, a defendant had the mental capacity to form the specific intent to kill) (quoting Zettlemoyer, 454 A.2d at 944)). We turn first to Appellant's reliance on the trial testimony of Attorney Guy-McCorkle, who represented him at the September 9 preliminary hearing for the first rape and at the September 10 PFA hearing. As noted above, Attorney Guy-McCorkle testified that when she saw Appellant on September 9, 1997, she thought he was incoherent and did not understand why he was there. When she saw him at the PFA hearing on September 10, 1997, hours after the murder, she said he was quiet and seemed tired. In jail the next day, she said he appeared confused. Although Attorney Guy-McCorkle's testimony was relevant in that it tended to contradict the testimony of Detective Logan and Ms. Britton, her contact with Appellant was limited, her description of his behavior was vague, and she merely offered her lay opinion of Appellant's demeanor during her three encounters with him around the time of the murder. Moreover her testimony is dubious considering that she was willing to have him sign an acknowledgement that he fully understood the nature of the proceeding and his rights at the September 9 preliminary hearing. Thus, Attorney Guy-McCorkle's lay testimony hardly qualifies as extensive psychiatric testimony establishing that at the time of the murder Appellant suffered from any mental disorder that prevented him from formulating the specific intent to kill. Cuevas, 832 A.2d at 394. Dr. Bernstein, on the other hand, was qualified as an expert. He testified that in his opinion Appellant was suffering at the time of the murder from a number of different psychiatric conditions, including alcoholic hallucinosis, and that Appellant's mental illness diminished his capacity to premeditate, deliberate and form specific homicidal intent and be fully conscious of that intent. Appellant claims that Dr. Bernstein's testimony was sufficient to prove diminished capacity and that the Commonwealth presented no expert testimony to refute Dr. Bernstein; thus, he claims the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proving specific intent to kill. The Commonwealth responds that, although Dr. Bernstein was a mental health expert and opined that Appellant was suffering from psychiatric conditions that diminished his capacity to form the specific intent to kill, the validity of his diagnosis was seriously undermined on cross-examination. It also argues that the jury, which was charged with assessing credibility and making factual findings, was free to accept or reject Dr. Bernstein's expert opinion. At trial, the Commonwealth attacked Dr. Bernstein's expert opinion by pointing out inaccuracies in many of the facts that formed the basis of his opinion. For instance, Dr. Bernstein testified that he interviewed Appellant's mother, Mrs. Mitchell, in early 1999 to obtain Appellant's history and determine if she carried risk factors that might affect his mental state. According to Dr. Bernstein, Mrs. Mitchell claimed that she drank while pregnant with Appellant. Dr. Bernstein also testified that alcoholism ran in Appellant's family, and that these two risk factors might have affected Appellant's mental state. Premised on this information, Dr. Bernstein told the jury that a fetus exposed to alcohol in the womb has a higher prevalence of neurological and psychiatric abnormalities, such as poor attention span, impulsiveness, aggressiveness, attention deficit disorder, and depression, and may suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome. On cross-examination, however, Dr. Bernstein conceded that Appellant did not suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome. He further acknowledged that the hospital records from Appellant's two admissions in 1992 did not support the claim that Mrs. Mitchell drank while pregnant with Appellant. According to the family history Mrs. Mitchell provided during Appellant's admission to St. Francis Hospital in April 1992, she said that she had been a heavy drinker only since 1987, when Appellant was already ten years of age. Dr. Bernstein further acknowledged that according to the April 1992 records, Appellant resulted from a planned pregnancy with no complications and attained all developmental milestones without difficulty. N.T. Trial at 562. Consequently, the Commonwealth cast considerable doubt on Dr. Bernstein's conclusion that Appellant was born with a predisposition to neurological and psychiatric abnormalities due to his mother's drinking. Next, Dr. Bernstein discussed the effects of long-term alcohol abuse. According to Dr. Bernstein, Appellant reportedly began drinking at age eleven. Dr. Bernstein testified that regular drinking at that age causes changes in the brain that increase the risk for psychiatric and behavioral problems, which increase both the likelihood of a person being more violent and participating in unplanned aggressive acts and the risk of becoming clinically depressed or psychotic, i.e., hearing voices or hallucinating. Dr. Bernstein testified that his review of Appellant's records led him to conclude that the reason for Appellant's first hospital admission in 1992 was his drinking and having homicidal thoughts, and that the second hospitalization in 1992 was related to drinking and his aggressive acting out. N.T. Trial at 552. However, during cross-examination regarding Appellant's first hospitalization, Dr. Bernstein acknowledged that there was no mention of alcohol involvement related to the incident that led to Appellant's admission. Instead, intake notes indicated that Appellant had been caught at school with weapons and had threatened to kill a person he had accused of raping his girlfriend. Appellant was given the option of going to Allegheny County's Shuman Detention Center for delinquent juveniles or St. Francis Hospital for a medical evaluation and in-patient treatment. Appellant opted for the latter. During his hospital stay, Appellant stated that he wanted to kill the man he asserted had raped his girlfriend, but changed his mind and realized that would be first-degree murder because I had a plan and a motive. N.T. Trial at 571. In the second incident, Appellant was accused of threatening an assistant principal with a knife. According to his intake records, Appellant was given the alternative of going to the hospital and he agreed. It was only during the second admissions process that Appellant gave information suggesting that he might be alcohol dependent. In assessing Appellant's alcohol usage, Dr. Bernstein cited a doctor's note from St. Francis which stated that Appellant reported a four ÔÇö to five-year history of drinking two to three 40 ounce beers three times per month [and] admit[ted] to a one-time use of wine cooler and hard liquor. N.T. Trial at 575. As noted above, Dr. Bernstein diagnosed Appellant with a condition called alcoholic hallucinosis, wherein chronic use of alcohol induces auditory hallucinations. However, he conceded that the records indicated that Appellant provided inconsistent responses to different doctors concerning whether he had ever experienced a blackout. According to Dr. Sitner, one of the doctors that treated Appellant in April 1992, there was: no disturbance of immediate recent and long-term recall. Intelligence average to above average. Good abstract capacity. Concentration good. Denies disturbance of perception such as hallucinations, delusions, depersonalization or derealization. Thoughts organized. There is no looseness of association, flight of ideas tangentially or circumstantially, denied delusions. N.T. Trial at 583. Dr. Bernstein also conceded that other notes from St. Francis included the observation that Appellant was very manipulative and conscious about his manipulative and antisocial trait, and that he mumbled his words when angry. N.T. Trial at 581. Appellant was discharged with a diagnosis of conduct disorder and alcohol dependence. During his second stay in May 1992, Appellant reported no perceptual disturbances and denied hallucinations, delusions, and feelings of paranoia. He was discharged with the same diagnoses, including merging antisocial personality trait. The only other medical record Dr. Bernstein reviewed was that of Appellant's examination at St. Francis Hospital at noon on September 10, 1997, after the murder. According to this record, Appellant never told the nurse that he had blacked out and he denied having any psychiatric problems. His mental status was listed as [a]lert, impulse control good, cooperative, and his diagnosis was adjustment order with depressed mood and rule out antisocial personality disorder. In fact, according to hospital records, Appellant was discharged from St. Francis shortly after being evaluated. As noted above, Appellant was leaving the emergency room, when he encountered Detective Logan. In Dr. Bernstein's notes reflecting his discussion with Appellant concerning Robin's murder, he concluded that Appellant was apparently in an alcoholic blackout during the event in question and has only a patchy memory for these events. Dr. Bernstein also noted that on the prior evening, September 9, 1997, Appellant began to experience command auditory hallucinations telling him to stab his estranged girlfriend and sometime thereafter assaulted and killed this same individual. On cross-examination, the Commonwealth focused on Dr. Bernstein's failure to review pertinent records and his lack of information. Dr. Bernstein acknowledged that defense counsel had not given him Robin's diary entries to review and that he was only aware of Appellant's hostility toward Robin based upon Appellant's statement to Detective Logan. Dr. Bernstein also said that while he reviewed the confession, he did not review any of the details in it with Appellant. Additionally, Dr. Bernstein said that defense counsel had not informed him that a half-hour before the murder, Appellant had called Ms. Britton and specifically told her that he was going to kill Robin, nor had he been provided with any letters Appellant had written to Ms. Britton from jail following the murder, in which he referred to Robin as a whore who had gotten what she deserved. N.T. Trial at 332-33. Thus, in reaching his conclusion, Dr. Bernstein conceded that he did not take any of these factors into account. He indicated, however, that such information did not change his opinion. Finally, Dr. Bernstein conceded that no mention was made of blackouts, auditory commands, or hallucinations pertinent to the killing until after Appellant had spoken to him and the defense team. Additionally, Dr. Bernstein's testimony was contradicted by Detective Logan who spoke with Appellant on the day of the murder. Detective Logan testified that when he interviewed Appellant, Appellant denied having any hallucinations and demonstrated a remarkable memory of events between him and Robin. In fact, Detective Logan told the jury how impressed he was that Appellant remembered specific dates such as when he first met Robin, as well as the specifics of exactly what each was wearing on the night of the murder. Although Appellant claims the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proving specific intent to kill because it presented no expert testimony to refute Dr. Bernstein, he cites no authority to support such a claim. The mere fact that Dr. Bernstein opined that Appellant was mentally ill does not obligate the jury to accept such testimony as true, nor does it render the evidence proffered by the Commonwealth insufficient to support Appellant's conviction. Rather, the jury was free to believe all, part, or none of Dr. Bernstein's testimony. See Commonwealth v. Pitts, 486 Pa. 212, 404 A.2d 1305 (1979). It is not for this Court to reweigh the evidence and substitute its judgment for that of the fact-finder. See Commonwealth v. Gibson, 553 Pa. 648, 720 A.2d 473, 480 (1998). Moreover, there was ample evidence that Appellant manifested similar clarity of purpose in his conduct immediately before and after the killing. He called Ms. Britton at 1 a.m., just before the murder, and said that he was going to Robin's house to kill her because she disrespected him. Afterwards, in an attempt to cover-up the murder, he immediately discarded Robin's clothes and the murder weapon in a sewer. He went home and called Ms. Britton at 4 a.m. to say that Robin Little was no more and that he needed to establish an alibi. N.T. Trial at 330. By 9 a.m., Appellant discarded his clothes in a vacant house and went on to attend a previously scheduled PFA hearing, presumably to alleviate any suspicion that he knew Robin was dead. He later admitted to Detective Logan that he feigned surprise when told that Robin's body was discovered, that alcohol had nothing to do with the murder, and he killed Robin because she disparaged him and had found someone else. Appellant's articulate, coherent, and extremely detailed confession evidences a settled, deliberate, and specific intent to kill. Further evidence of specific intent could be inferred from letters Ms. Britton received from Appellant in the days and weeks after Robin's murder. Ms. Britton read a portion of one of the letters she received prior to trial in which Appellant wrote: For me to explain to you or anyone else my state-of-mind is totally useless because no matter how hard I try, you will never understand all about the little whore being dead. I have two outlooks on that. For all the pain and suffering she put me through and would have put me through, she deserved what she got. And secondly, I feel death was too good for her. She should have been made to suffer through life, and I know she would have suffered. That was planned. But the bottom line is no matter how I look at it, Robin killed herself and her mother helped. There is no way in hell you can expect me to treat someone as bad as she treated me and go unpunished. It's against the laws of nature. I think the word is justice. N.T. Trial at 332-33. Based on all of the evidence presented, the jury properly could have rejected Dr. Bernstein's expert opinion and concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was not under a state of diminished capacity and that he acted with specific intent to kill Robin Little. Thus, Appellant's claim that the evidence was insufficient to support his first-degree murder conviction because of his diminished capacity fails. Additionally, because our independent review of the evidence finds it sufficient to sustain a first-degree murder conviction, Appellant is not entitled to relief. Having resolved the sufficiency of the evidence inquiry, we now turn to the remaining claims raised by Appellant concerning errors allegedly committed in the guilt phase of trial.