Opinion ID: 2279726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Statement of Wilson Perez

Text: Appellant next argues that the trial court erred in allowing Commonwealth witness Wilson Perez to testify that appellant had told Perez that he killed someone out past the boulevard and had been paid for it. [17] This statement was made to Perez in late January of 1991, several weeks after the Gutman murder but before the Slobotkin murder. Appellant contends that the statement was too vague to be admissible in relation to the Gutman murder and that, because it was too vague to be a clear reference to that murder, it improperly placed before the jury evidence of a prior bad act. The admissibility of evidence is a matter addressed to the discretion of the trial court and may be reversed only upon a showing that the court abused its discretion. Commonwealth v. LaCava, 542 Pa. 160, 172, 666 A.2d 221, 227 (1995) (citation omitted). Extrajudicial statements, which differ from confessions in that they do not acknowledge all essential elements of a crime, are generally considered to qualify for admission into evidence under the party admission exception to the hearsay rule. Simmons, supra at 238, 662 A.2d at 634 (citation omitted). Evidence is relevant and, therefore, admissible if it logically tends to establish a material fact in the case, if it tends to make a fact at issue more or less probable, or if it supports a reasonable inference or presumption regarding the existence of a material fact. LaCava, supra at 172-76, 666 A.2d at 227-28. At the outset, appellant's statement to Perez was more detailed than that portion cited by appellant in his brief. Perez's testimony established not only that appellant stated to him that he had killed someone out past the boulevard and that he had been paid for it, but also that he had killed the victim in a jewelry store and taken the victim's jewelry. N.T. 4/13/94 at 190. Perez also testified that appellant had given several unset gemstones, including diamonds, to Perez's brother. Id. at 190-91. Therefore, contrary to appellant's assertions, the testimony was not so vague as to make any connection to the crime charged purely speculative. Appellant's admission to Perez that he had committed a crime in the general geographic location of the Gutman murder in a jewelry store and had stolen jewelry from the store were facts corroborated by appellant's fingerprints found in the victim's jewelry store, by appellant's possession of unset gemstones and by appellant's own statements to police, clearly support the reasonable inference that it was appellant who murdered the decedent. Appellant's admission to Perez was therefore admissible.