Opinion ID: 2559519
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Accomplice Witness Charge

Text: Next, Appellant raises a claim of counsel ineffectiveness regarding the trial court's accomplice witness charges. As background, this claim involves the testimony of Commonwealth witnesses Green and Rucker, and the adequacy of the trial court's jury charge regarding these witnesses. Both witnesses were unsentenced co-conspirators who had pled guilty to conspiracy and third-degree murder and testified for the Commonwealth. Trial counsel requested a corrupt and polluted source charge with respect to these witnesses. [15] The trial court declined to give the standard charge, however, and instead instructed the jury as follows: Kimberleigh Green and Levi Rucker are unsentenced co-conspirators of the defendantare unsentenced co-conspirators allegedly in the conspiracy with this defendant and they have testified on behalf of the Commonwealth. In your deliberations you may bear that in mind in assessing the credibility of their testimony as witnesses. N.T. 2/1/1985 at 167. Counsel objected to this charge as invalid, and the trial court overruled the objection. Counsel did not challenge the trial court's accomplice charge on direct appeal. [16] Appellant argues that counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge on appeal the trial court's failure to give a proper corrupt and polluted source instruction. [17] The Commonwealth argues that Appellant was not prejudiced by counsel's failure in this regard because, considering the trial testimony, counsel's closing argument, and the court's instruction, the jury clearly understood they were to view Green's and Rucker's testimony with caution. The PCRA court treated this claim solely as one of trial court error and did not consider the claim of counsel ineffectiveness. Although not responsive to Appellant's claim of counsel ineffectiveness, the PCRA court believed that even if Appellant was entitled to the corrupt and polluted source charge, he could not demonstrate that the charge would have changed the outcome of the trial. Specifically, examining the charge as a whole, rather than the isolated portion Appellant relied on, the PCRA court concluded that the trial court made clear in other portions of the jury charge that Green and Rucker were co-conspirators, and explained how to evaluate their credibility by emphasizing that the jury should consider each witness's motive and whether the witness was biased or interested in the outcome of the case. We observe that Appellant is correct that the trial court's jury charge did not include the standard charge for accomplice testimony, commonly referred to as the corrupt and polluted source charge. As we explained in Commonwealth v. Chmiel, 536 Pa. 244, 639 A.2d 9, 13 (1994), in any case where an accomplice implicates the defendant, the judge should tell the jury that the accomplice is a corrupt and polluted source whose testimony should be viewed with great caution. See also Commonwealth v. Collins, 598 Pa. 397, 957 A.2d 237 (2008). For an accomplice charge to be required, the facts need to permit an inference that the witness was an accomplice. Chmiel, 639 A.2d at 13; Commonwealth v. Sisak, 436 Pa. 262, 259 A.2d 428 (1969). If the evidence is sufficient to present a jury question with respect to whether the prosecution's witness was an accomplice, the defendant is entitled to an instruction as to the weight to be given to that witness's testimony. Chmiel, 639 A.2d at 13; Commonwealth v. Mouzon, 456 Pa. 230, 318 A.2d 703 (1974). To establish prejudice from counsel's failure to challenge the jury charge on appeal, Appellant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's error or omission, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Commonwealth v. Colavita, 993 A.2d 874, 887 (Pa.2010). Specifically, Appellant must demonstrate that if counsel had challenged the jury charge on appeal, there is a reasonable probability that this Court would have awarded him a new trial. Thus, we consider whether counsel's failure to challenge the jury charge in this respect on direct appeal so prejudiced Appellant that it had an adverse effect on the outcome of his appeal. On direct appeal, our review of the jury charge would have required us to review the charge as a whole to determine whether it is fair or prejudicial. Commonwealth v. Williams, 602 Pa. 360, 980 A.2d 510, 523 (2009); Commonwealth v. Robinson, 583 Pa. 358, 877 A.2d 433, 444 (2005); Commonwealth v. Hawkins, 567 Pa. 310, 787 A.2d 292, 301 (2001); Zettlemoyer, 454 A.2d at 952. The trial court has broad discretion in phrasing its instructions, and may choose its own wording so long as the law is clearly, adequately, and accurately presented to the jury for its consideration. Williams, 980 A.2d at 523 (quoting Hawkins, 787 A.2d at 301). There is error only when the trial court abuses its discretion or inaccurately states the law. Id.; Commonwealth v. Markman, 591 Pa. 249, 916 A.2d 586, 613 (2007). The corrupt source charge in particular is designed specifically to address situations where one accomplice testifies against the other to obtain favorable treatment. It directs the jury to view the testimony of an accomplice with disfavor and accept it only with care and caution. Instead of the strong admonition to scrutinize carefully the testimony of Green and Rucker in accord with Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Jury Instruction (Criminal) (revised October 1981) Section 4.01, the jury was instructed that Green and Rucker were coconspirators allegedly in a conspiracy with Appellant who testified on behalf of the Commonwealth, and the jury should bear this in mind during their deliberations when assessing these witnesses' credibility. N.T. 2/1/1985 at 167. As the PCRA court observed, however, this was not the trial court's sole instruction with regard to these witnesses's testimony. The trial court also instructed the jury to weigh, analyze, and judge the credibility and reliability of the witnesses, N.T. 2/1/1985 at 101, 109-10; to consider whether a witness had a motive to lie, id. at 112; to consider whether bias or prejudice entered into a witness's testimony, id.; and to consider whether the witness has an interest in the outcome of the trial that would color that witness's testimony, id. Examining the charge as a whole, the trial court made clear to the jury that Green and Rucker were co-conspirators and directed the jury how to evaluate their credibility in light of these considerations. Additionally, as the Commonwealth further develops, during Green's and Rucker's respective testimony, the prosecutor asked them about their plea agreements, which reduced the charges of first-degree murder to third-degree murder and conspiracy. Green testified that she believed her plea would limit her sentence to no more than ten to twenty years' imprisonment, and that the extent of her cooperation in Appellant's trial would be conveyed to the judge at her sentencing hearing. N.T. 1/28/1985 at 52-57, 63. Rucker testified that he would be sentenced to five to twenty years' imprisonment and that an unrelated aggravated assault charge would be dismissed because of his cooperation with the Commonwealth in Appellant's trial. N.T. 1/29/1985 at 33-36, 41-45, 63-69, 76-77; 1/30/1985, 94-96, 100-103. The chief of the District Attorney's Office homicide unit testified that both witnesses had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder and conspiracy in exchange for their testimony against Appellant. In light of the totality of the jury charge and the evidence produced regarding Green's and Rucker's interest in testifying for the Commonwealth, Appellant cannot prevail on his ineffectiveness claim. He simply has not demonstrated that he would be able to prove that if counsel had challenged the jury charge on direct appeal, the result of his appeal would have been different. Therefore, Appellant has failed to plead sufficient prejudice to entitle him to relief.