Opinion ID: 2197485
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: trial and penalty phase errors

Text: Appellant contends that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to a jury trial. His argument here is twofold. Initially he submits that the trial court erred in explaining his rights under the guilty but mentally ill statute thereby causing him to elect to proceed non-jury. Specifically, appellant argues that the court failed to inform him that if he had elected to plead guilty but mentally ill and if the trial judge were to ultimately determine not to accept the plea, appellant would have been entitled to withdraw his plea and proceed to a jury trial. In so arguing appellant obviously refers to subsection (b) of the Guilty but Mentally Ill statute. Subsection (b) of the Guilty but Mentally Ill statute, however, has no bearing whatsoever on the appellant's waiver of a jury trial after he elected to dispense with the plea and proceed to trial. Subsection (b) provides, in pertinent part, that where the trial judge refuses to accept a plea of guilty but mentally ill, the defendant shall be permitted to withdraw his plea and proceed to a jury trial or a bench trial before a different judge. That subsection is, however, of no moment where, as here, a defendant agrees to forego tendering any such plea, waives his right to a jury trial, and then proceeds non-jury. Appellant can hardly claim that after he elected to forego his plea, his waiver of a jury trial was unknowing because the trial court allegedly failed to provide an adequate explanation of the specific plea. In essence, appellant is seeking a second bite at the apple; after voluntarily choosing to proceed to a trial, and after unsuccessfully asserting his claim of mental illness, he wants a second chance to assert his claim, this time before a different tribunal. We find no basis whatsoever in this argument to support a finding that the waiver was unknowing. Appellant also argues that the trial court failed to properly advise him of the essential ingredients of a jury trial thereby rendering his waiver unknowing and unintelligent. For the following reasons, we find this claim to also be without merit. Prior to accepting a defendant's waiver of his right to a jury trial, the trial court must conduct a colloquy wherein it apprises the defendant of the three essential elements of a jury trial: that the jury would be selected from members of the community; that the verdict must be unanimous; and that the defendant would be allowed to participate in the selection of the jury. Commonwealth v. Williams, 454 Pa. 368, 312 A.2d 597 (1973). As noted previously, appellant had participated in three days of jury selection prior to his tender of a plea. Clearly then, he knew how a jury was selected. Moreover, once appellant decided to tender a plea of guilty but mentally ill, the trial court reiterated those essential aspects of a jury trial that appellant would be waiving upon entry of his plea. The trial court, again, reiterated these rights during the afternoon colloquy that took place upon the decision of appellant to proceed to a bench trial. Furthermore, appellant also signed a waiver of jury trial form, thereby specifically acknowledging that the elements of a jury trial were explained to him and that he understood such. These facts not only indicate that appellant was apprised of his right to a jury trial, but that he also knowingly and voluntarily relinquished that right. See, Commonwealth v. DeGeorge, 506 Pa. 445, 485 A.2d 1089 (1984). Appellant next argues that the trial court erred in refusing to consider testimony regarding appellant's history of mental illness. At trial, appellant called one Dr. Kratsa, a psychiatrist, in an effort to establish that appellant had exhibited signs of mental illness since his early childhood. However, Dr. Kratsa had never clinically evaluated appellant, nor had he ever reviewed any records pertaining to appellant's mental state. Rather, Dr. Kratsa, who was a friend of appellant's family, gained his knowledge regarding appellant's alleged history of mental illness solely from conversations he had with appellant's family members who had called Dr. Kratsa on several occasions seeking advice. The only other contact Dr. Kratsa had with appellant was during certain athletic events in which appellant participated and Dr. Kratsa coached. Moreover, Dr. Kratsa had not even seen appellant during the three year period immediately preceding the murders. Accordingly, he could not testify to appellant's mental state at, or near, the time that the murders occurred. Throughout Dr. Kratsa's testimony, the trial court repeatedly told counsel for appellant that unless he could connect the doctor's observations to appellant's mental state at the time of the instant murders, the testimony could not be viewed as probative of the issue of whether appellant was mentally ill at the time he committed the murders. No such connection was ever made and counsel for the prosecution moved to strike Dr. Kratsa's testimony. This testimony was clearly not probative of the issue of appellant's mental state at the time of the murders and thus, was not relevant or admissible. See, Commonwealth v. Stewart, 461 Pa. 274, 336 A.2d 282 (1975). Nevertheless, the trial court refused to strike Dr. Kratsa's testimony, noting that if appellant could later make the requisite connection, the court would consider the testimony. The trial court, therefore, provided appellant every opportunity to establish the relevancy of this testimony. Appellant, however, failed to subsequently provide that connection. Appellant, having failed to establish the relevancy of Dr. Kratsa's testimony, cannot now be heard to complain that the trial court erred in disregarding this testimony. We can find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in disregarding this testimony. Appellant also contends that the trial court erred in not finding appellant guilty but mentally ill. Essentially, appellant argues that the trial court misapprehended the law regarding guilty but mentally ill. In support thereof, he contends that the trial court, at the penalty hearing, found him to be under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the crime and that, therefore, the court erred in not finding him guilty but mentally ill under 18 Pa.C.S. § 314. Appellant also argues that the court improperly focused upon whether the mental illness caused the appellant to act as he did rather than focuses upon whether, because of the mental illness, appellant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. He then claims that the trial court's alleged error also caused the court not to find mitigating circumstance (e)(3), 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711. [4] Recently, this Court, in Commonwealth v. Faulkner, 528 Pa. 57, 595 A.2d 28 (1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1680, 118 L.Ed.2d 397 (1992), noted that in a capital case, evidence tending to establish that a defendant was guilty but mentally ill is properly admitted only at the penalty phase. We indicated therein that in a capital case, guilty but mentally ill is subsumed within mitigating circumstances 9711(e)(2) and (e)(3). Id., 528 Pa. at 73 n. 7, 595 A.2d at 36, n. 7. While Faulkner was decided after the trial of the instant case, the law regarding the use of guilty but mentally ill as espoused therein was an affirmation of the well established legal principle that a verdict of guilty but mentally ill does not address a defendant's legal responsibility for the acts committed, but rather reflects a penological concern and therefore, is properly considered during the sentencing phase. See, Commonwealth v. Young, 524 Pa. 373, 572 A.2d 1217 (1990) citing Commonwealth v. Sohmer, 519 Pa. 200, 546 A.2d 601 (1988). Here, contrary to appellant's assertions, the trial court found during the guilt phase that appellant, at the time of the commission of the murders, was not laboring under any mental illness sufficient to deprive him of his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. The trial judge then heard further evidence during the penalty phase regarding appellant's mental state and again reiterated his finding that the defense had not established that appellant was guilty but mentally ill at the relevant time. In an apparent attempt at fairness, the trial judge then found that mitigating circumstance (e)(2) could be read more liberally than the guilty but mentally ill statute, concluding that (e)(2) can properly be found where there is evidence that a defendant suffers from mental illness at the time of sentencing. While the trial judge's conclusion was clearly in error given the clear and unambiguous language of subsection (e)(2), this Court will not render a mitigating circumstance invalid as there has been no error resulting therefrom to the defendant. As for appellant's claim that the trial judge should have also found mitigating circumstance (e)(3), we cannot agree. The trial court clearly found that appellant failed to suffer from the requisite degree of mental illness, if any, at the time of the offenses. Mitigating circumstance (e)(3) tracks the language of the guilty but mentally ill statute and thus, provides that only where the defendant lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law at the time of the offenses will he meet the criteria. Accordingly, because the trial judge in the instant case found no such mental impairment at the time of the instant murders, (e)(3) could not properly be found. Accordingly, for all the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the trial court, although it may have misconstrued the verdict of guilty but mentally ill in application, did not err in failing to find the appellant guilty but mentally ill. Appellant next contends that the trial court erred in failing to consider, as a mitigating factor, his good conduct while in prison. Appellant claims that his good behavior while in prison demonstrates character traits which are relevant mitigating evidence and therefore, should have been found under (e)(8). Specifically, he claims that his ability to peacefully adjust to life in prison and his alleged non-violent nature while in prison are relevant character traits bearing on mitigation. Appellant intimates that the trial court failed to consider these traits simply because it had already found mitigating circumstance (e)(8). The record reveals that while appellant did, indeed, offer into evidence a document which stated that there were no written reports of misconduct on the part of appellant while he was incarcerated and that the Commonwealth did stipulate that the document contained such information, the Commonwealth nevertheless did not stipulate that there were no incidents of misconduct that did occur. Indeed, the Commonwealth called as a witness, a psychologist employed at Delaware County Prison who testified that on one particular occasion while he was making rounds he noticed that a radiator located in appellant's cell had been tampered with and that when the guards arrived to check the cell, he witnessed appellant attack the guards. Given this contradiction in the evidence, we cannot conclude that the trial court erred in finding insufficient evidence to support these alleged mitigating factors. Appellant also contends that the sentence imposed in his case was the product of passion and prejudice. In support of his claim, appellant argues that the trial court, in weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, impermissibly considered the gravity of the offense. The trial court rendered its sentence based upon its conclusion that the gravity of the offense and the aggravating circumstances outweighed the existing mitigating circumstances. Such considerations are valid and provide no basis for a finding that the sentence imposed was the result of any prejudice or other arbitrary factor. See, Commonwealth v. Moser, 519 Pa. 441, 549 A.2d 76 (1988). Finally, appellant argues that the sentence imposed was disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases. Appellant claims that the sentence of death was disproportionate to other cases in which similar evidence of mitigation was presented. In support thereof, he relies upon information received from the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts regarding another case in which similar mitigating circumstances were allegedly presented and a sentence of life was imposed. This information sheet, which appellant has attached to his brief, lists only one defendant, Stanley Joseph Hertzog, and indicates that Hertzog was convicted of three murders for which he received a life sentence as to each murder. In compliance with our statutory duty to review death penalty cases to determine whether the sentence imposed is excessive or disproportionate to the sentence imposed in similar cases, [5] we have conducted our own review of the data and information compiled by the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts (A.O.P.C.). See, Commonwealth v. Frey, 504 Pa. 428, 475 A.2d 700 (1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 963, 105 S.Ct. 360, 83 L.Ed.2d 296 (1984). That review has revealed that the information on which appellant has relied is inapposite for purposes of our current review insofar as the circumstances of the case involving Stanley Joseph Hertzog are not similar to those presented in the instant matter. [6] Accordingly, we find that information of no value to us in conducting our proportionality review here. Furthermore, our independent review of all the relevant information has revealed that the sentences of death imposed in the instant matter are neither excessive nor disproportionate. Accordingly, the sentences of death must be affirmed. For the foregoing reasons, we uphold the convictions and affirm the judgment of sentence of death. [7] LARSEN and McDERMOTT, JJ., did not participate in the decision of this case.