Opinion ID: 1926440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trial court error in the guilt phase

Text: Appellant alleges several points of trial court error during the guilt phase. First, he argues that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the statement appellant gave to police following his arrest on the ground that the statement was obtained in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Appellant alleges that he informed the police investigators prior to questioning that he wished to speak to an attorney but the request was thwarted and that police used psychological pressure to coerce him into giving a statement. Our standard of review in addressing a challenge to a trial court's denial of a suppression motion is whether the factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Commonwealth v. Hall, 549 Pa. 269, 283, 701 A.2d 190, 197 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1082, 118 S.Ct. 1534, 140 L.Ed.2d 684 (1998). When reviewing rulings of a suppression court, we must consider only the evidence of the prosecution and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the record supports the findings of the suppression court, we are bound by those facts and may reverse only if the legal conclusions drawn therefrom are in error. The Commonwealth bears the burden of establishing a knowing and voluntary waiver of Miranda rights. Commonwealth v. Hughes, 521 Pa. 423, 443, 555 A.2d 1264, 1274 (1989). In order to do so, the Commonwealth must establish that the proper warnings were given and that the accused manifested an understanding of these warnings. At the suppression hearing, the detective who conducted the interview of appellant testified that he read appellant his Miranda rights prior to conducting the interview, that appellant signed a form acknowledging that he had been informed of his rights and that he understood them, and that appellant voluntarily waived his rights and gave a statement. [7] The detective further testified that at no point did appellant request an attorney and that, had appellant done so, the detective would have terminated the interview. Conversely, appellant testified that he requested an attorney, but that the detective informed him that in order to get an attorney appellant would need fifty-thousand dollars. The trial court weighed the credibility of both appellant and the detective and found appellant's claim that he was denied the assistance of an attorney to be incredible. In so concluding, the trial court pointed to several inconsistencies in appellant's testimony at the suppression hearing. See Trial Ct.'s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, 5/12/97 at 9-10. That finding is supported by the record and will not be disturbed. Commonwealth v. McCracken, 540 Pa. 541, 551, 659 A.2d 541, 546 (1995) (appellate courts must defer to credibility determinations of the trial court, who observed the witness's demeanor first hand). Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying appellant's motion to suppress. Next, appellant claims that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that Commonwealth witness Natalie Grant might be a reliable witness if she had not used drugs on the day of the murder. Grant had testified that, although she had formerly used drugs, she had not used any drugs on the night of the murder or the day before the murder. Grant further testified that she was not intoxicated at the time of the murder and that she had stopped using drugs completely three months before the trial. During cross-examination, at one point, defense counsel made the statement that a junky's word is worthless. N.T. 1/22/93 at 33. Following the prosecutor's objection, the court issued the following instruction to the jury: ... You are to disregard the prejudicial impact of that comment. The law of Pennsylvania is this: The consumption of drugs is relevant to determine credibility if it has been established that a person is under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident which he or she is witnessing at the time of the trial. That's a factor to be taken into consideration in evaluating their testimony as to a depiction from the witness box respecting the incident that may have occurred. But, first, you have to determine whether or not they, in fact, had taken drugs or were under the influence of drugs at the time of the incidents that were testified to at trial. Most obviously, if someone is drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time they witnessed something, it impairs their ability to observe, retain and recall what they were observing. So, you have to be careful to avoid any prejudicial impact, in light of what I have just instructed you, which is the law of Pennsylvania, from the comment, all you junkies are unreliable witnesses in the witness box. N.T. 1/22/93 at 33-34. The court gave a similar instruction in its final charge to the jury. We find no error in the trial court's instruction to the jury. The trial court properly performed its duty by promptly issuing an accurate curative instruction concerning the witness's drug use following defense counsel's baseless personal assessment of a drug abuser's credibility. Accordingly, this claim warrants no relief. Next, appellant asserts that the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial or give a curative instruction after the jury heard hearsay testimony from Natalie Grant concerning appellant's involvement with drugs. [8] A motion for mistrial is a matter addressed to the discretion of the court. Commonwealth v. Jones, 542 Pa. 464, 488-89, 668 A.2d 491, 502-03 (1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 826, 117 S.Ct. 89, 136 L.Ed.2d 45 (1996). A trial court need only grant a mistrial where the alleged prejudicial event may reasonably be said to deprive the defendant of a fair and impartial trial. Id. In response to questions from the prosecutor regarding a possible motive for the killing, Grant testified that the victim had told her that appellant had given the victim a package containing drugs. N.T. 1/25/93 at 25. [9] The trial court immediately ordered the witness's testimony concerning motive to be stricken from the record on the basis that the statement was hearsay and advised the jury that it was to disregard the testimony. N.T. 1/25/93 at 26. In its final instructions, the trial court again reiterated to the jury that it could not consider any evidence that the court had ordered stricken from the record. We find that the instruction was sufficient to cure any possible prejudice to appellant. [10] Absent evidence to the contrary, the jury is presumed to have followed the court's instructions. Commonwealth v. Baker, 531 Pa. 541, 559, 614 A.2d 663, 672 (1992)(our law presumes that juries follow the court's instructions as to the applicable law). Accordingly, the trial court did not err in failing to declare a mistrial. Appellant's next claim is that the trial court improperly expressed its opinion in its jury instruction as to appellant's motive, thus prejudicing appellant by effectively removing the determination of motive from the province of the jury. This claim is technically waived due to appellant's failure to object to the instruction when issued. [11] Pa.R.Crim.P. 1119 (no portions of the charge nor omissions therefrom may be assigned as error unless specific objections are made thereto before the jury retires to deliberate); Commonwealth v. Edmondson, 553 Pa. 160, 718 A.2d 751, 752 (1998)(due to appellee's failure to object to an instruction when the court issued it, the issue was not properly preserved for appeal). Nevertheless, we may still reach the merits of the claim pursuant to the relaxed waiver rule in direct appeals involving capital cases as stated in Zettlemoyer, supra at 26 n. 3, 454 at 942 n. 3. The relevant portion of the trial court's instruction concerning motive is as follows: Motive, well ... Motive is not an element or part of that definition of a crime or crimes. Motive is defined as some cause or reason that moves the will and induces action. The term motive is used to refer without distinction to external circumstances or to internal, mental or psychological states which motivates a person's actions or conduct. Thus, money, property, gain, something of value or spite, hatred or ill will can be spoken of as motives for a criminal act. I guess the evidence in this case, and you make your own determination, was that there was a motive, a drug-related transaction in which the deal didn't go through and I guess they talked about the delivery of the cocaine, smoking of the cocaine by the deceased, so I guess you can label the motive money, revenge. You label them.... ... It is entirely up to you to determine what weight, if any, should be given the evidence concerning motive in this case. N.T. 1/29/93 at 57-59. Appellant fails to demonstrate how he was prejudiced by the court's instruction. The court merely alluded to evidence produced by the Commonwealth at trial while instructing the jury that it could accept all, part, or none of the evidence. Further, in its final instructions the trial court briefly summarized the trial evidence, but emphasized that the jury's recollection of the evidence controlled and that the jury should disregard any statement of the court that did not accurately reflect the jury's recollection. The court further explained that its summary of the evidence should not be construed to suggest that the court took any position regarding the truth of any testimony. N.T. 1/29/93 at 37-38. Finally, both before and after the instruction on motive, the court summarized appellant's statement to police in which appellant claimed that he approached the victim after being robbed by him at a crap game, that the victim drew the weapon first and that appellant shot the victim by accident. The court explained that, if believed, appellant's statement entitled him to an outright acquittal. N.T. 1/29/93 at 64-74. Accordingly, no relief is warranted on this basis. Appellant's next claim is that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial after the prosecutor questioned on direct examination the detective who interviewed eight individuals shortly after the murder about his efforts to obtain an arrest warrant. Specifically, the prosecutor asked, Now, after having interviewed Skeet on the 5 th and having spoken to the eight people from the drug house and after having spoken to Angelic Kirkman or Poochie, did you prepare a warrant of arrest? N.T. 1/21/93 at 112. Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in denying defense counsel's motion for a mistrial because the question implied that the eight people had made statements incriminating appellant. We disagree. The purpose of this line of questioning, as explained by the prosecutor at a sidebar discussion, was to refute defense counsel's assertion that the entire investigation of the matter was based on false information from Natalie Grant, [12] and to demonstrate the chronology of events pertaining to the detective's investigation of the case. Following defense counsel's objection, the trial court issued a cautionary instruction as follows: Ladies and gentlemen, I explained probable cause to you in my preliminary instructions. Probable cause is not proof of evidence of guilt. You don't infer guilt because of the fact of an arrest and the legality of the arrest is not a question of concern to you. You already know he's arrested, so do not draw the inference of guilt from that fact of his arrest. This is just a chronological order of events as they transpired. N.T. 1/21/93 at 116-117. In addition, as part of its final charge, the trial court instructed the jury that the mere fact that the defendant was arrested and accused of a crime was not to be considered as evidence of appellant's guilt. Absent evidence to the contrary, the jury is presumed to have followed the court's instructions. Baker, supra at 559, 614 A.2d at 672. Appellant fails to demonstrate that the instruction was inadequate to cure any prejudice that may have stemmed from the prosecutor's question. Next, appellant asserts that the trial court assumed a prosecutorial role and improperly questioned and cross-examined Natalie Grant and impugned her testimony and credibility. Initially, we note that Natalie Grant was a Commonwealth witness and, therefore, any question the court posed that damaged the witness's credibility would seem only to assist appellant, not prejudice him. Furthermore, the trial court did not ask any questions of the witnesses at the places in the record indicated by appellant. The interrogation of which appellant complains actually consisted of instructions to the witness directing her to answer certain questions from defense counsel and not to answer other questions. [13] Therefore, we find appellant's claim to be meritless. Next, appellant claims that the trial court erred by instructing the jury that neither side has the right to prevail upon a witness to appear in court. N.T. 1/26/93 at 107. [14] When evaluating a jury instruction, [w]e will not rigidly inspect a jury charge, finding reversible error for every technical inaccuracy, but rather evaluate whether the charge sufficiently and accurately apprises a lay jury of the law it must consider in rendering its decision. Commonwealth v. Prosdocimo, 525 Pa. 147, 154, 578 A.2d 1273, 1276 (1990). The law is clear that, under Pa.R.Crim.P. 9016, either side can subpoena a witness to appear in court. To the extent that the court's instruction was unclear or inaccurate, the trial court's instruction nevertheless constituted harmless error under the circumstances of the case. In a related claim, appellant asserts as error that, during the cross-examination of a defense witness, the prosecutor asked the witness why he had refused to speak to the prosecutor prior to testifying for the defense. N.T. 1/26/93 at 106. Following this line of questioning, pursuant to defense counsel's request, the trial court instructed the jury regarding the law on a witness's right to refuse to be interviewed by the opposing attorney in a criminal matter. The court's instruction on the whole centered on a witness's right to refuse to give a statement to the opposing attorney in a criminal matter. The trial court's limited instruction regarding a party's ability to compel a witness to appear in court was not at issue. When the instruction is reviewed as a whole, it clearly instructed the jury that the defense witness was not obligated to speak to the prosecutor prior to trial so as to remove any negative inferences that may have arisen from the witness's pretrial decision not to speak with the prosecutor. Further, at the conclusion of the court's instruction, defense counsel expressed satisfaction with the content of the instruction. N.T. 1/26/93 at 107. Appellant fails to demonstrate how he was prejudiced by the court's instruction. Accordingly, no relief is due. Next, appellant alleges that the trial court erred by failing to grant a mistrial sua sponte after certain remarks by the prosecutor during closing argument in the guilt phase. As a general rule, comments by a prosecutor do not constitute reversible error unless the unavoidable effect of such comments would be to prejudice the jury, forming in their minds a fixed bias and hostility toward the defendant such that they could not weigh the evidence objectively and render a true verdict. Bronshtein, supra at 482, 691 A.2d at 917. First, appellant complains that the prosecutor made remarks that stigmatized defense counsel. Specifically, the prosecutor stated, I listened to [defense counsel]. It seemed like a totally different man today. It must have been Skippy, the evil twin brother that has been here for the past 10 days. All of a sudden today when he makes his closing argument to you he is like a new man, quiet, subdued, relaxed, calm. N.T. 1/27/93 at 91. The prosecutor went on to state that defense counsel's job was to confuse the jury. While such personal comments are to be avoided, defense counsel himself first raised the issue of his behavior during trial during the closing argument. Defense counsel apologized for his offensive behavior during trial, admitting that he acted jerky and a little crazy. N.T. 1/27/93 at 21, 38. However, defense counsel also launched personal attacks on the prosecutor and the police witnesses. [15] Further, the trial court noted in its opinion that defense counsel, indeed, changed his trial demeanor drastically upon delivering his closing argument. Trial Ct. Slip Op. at 55. In light of defense counsel's behavior and his own closing comments regarding his behavior, we find the trial court correctly refrained from declaring a mistrial sua sponte with respect to the prosecutor's remarks concerning defense counsel. Appellant further complains that he was unduly prejudiced by the prosecutor's statement that the evidence that appellant was a drug dealer was overwhelming. However, our review of the record reveals that what the prosecutor actually said was that the case against appellant was overwhelming. N.T. 1/27/93 at 135-36. We find that this was a fair comment on the evidence and, thus, no relief is due on this claim. Finally, appellant complains that the court erred in failing to declare a mistrial after admonishing the prosecutor for making a sympathy argument to the jury concerning the victim. The prosecutor argued that the victim and Natalie Grant were not throw away people because they used drugs and asked the jury what they as members of society were going to do about the murder. N.T. 1/27/93 at 164-65. The trial court sustained defense counsel's objection and instructed the prosecutor to give up the sympathy provoking argument and go on. Id. Appellant fails to demonstrate how the prosecutor's brief statements created a fixed bias or hostility in the minds of the jurors. The court promptly instructed the prosecutor to abandon that line of argument and the prosecutor complied. Additionally, the trial court instructed the jury that counsel's arguments were not evidence. N.T. 1/29/93 at 26-29. Absent evidence to the contrary, the jury is presumed to have followed the court's instructions. Baker, supra at 559, 614 A.2d at 672. Accordingly, no relief is warranted.