Opinion ID: 3159995
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Torture Aggravating Circumstance

Text: Appellant raises two distinct, but related, issues regarding the aggravating circumstance of torture pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(8) (providing that “[t]he offense was committed by means of torture”). First, he contends that the trial court erred by denying his pretrial motion to quash the aggravating circumstance of torture for lack of evidence. Second, Appellant submits that the Commonwealth failed to prove torture beyond a reasonable doubt during the penalty phase of trial. To establish that a murder was committed by means of torture, the Commonwealth must demonstrate that the defendant “intentionally inflicted . . . a considerable amount of pain and suffering that was unnecessarily heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.” Commonwealth v. Powell, 956 A.2d 406, 425 (Pa. 2008) (quoting Commonwealth v. Karenbauer, 715 A.2d 1086, 1099 (Pa. 1998)). The intent to torture may be proven from the circumstances surrounding the killing. Commonwealth v. Cox, 686 A.2d 1279, 1289 (Pa. 1996). The factors to consider in determining whether the torture aggravator applies include, but are not limited to: (1) the manner in which the murder was accomplished, including the number and type of wounds inflicted; (2) whether the wounds were inflicted on a vital or non-vital area of the body; (3) whether the victim was conscious when the wounds were received; and (4) the duration of the episode. Powell, 956 A.2d at 425 (citing Commonwealth v. Ockenhouse, 756 A.2d 1130, 1137 (Pa. 2000)). Finally, in reviewing a jury’s determination that an offense was committed by means of torture, we must examine the evidence in the light most favorable [J-2-2015] - 33 to the Commonwealth and draw all reasonable inferences in its favor. Powell, 956 A.2d at 425. As background for the torture claim, we note that on July 12, 2013, the trial court conducted a pretrial hearing on Appellant’s motion to quash the torture aggravator. The Commonwealth presented the expert medical testimony of Dr. David Fowler, who testified that after reviewing Dr. Land’s autopsy report and autopsy photographs, he agreed that Jaques’s death did not result from accidental drowning, but rather from homicide by blunt force trauma. N.T. (Pretrial Hearing), Jul. 12, 2013, at 29. Dr. Fowler noted there were twenty to thirty impacts to Jaques’s body, both fatal and nonfatal, which occurred within hours of each other and which would cause Jaques great pain. Id. at 23-27. He explained that the greatest amount of pain would have resulted from the lacerated liver, which would render it extremely painful for Jaques to breathe. Id. at 27. Dr. Fowler found that the liver injury and the head injury were the most fatal, id. at 31, that the head injury would have rendered Jaques unconscious, id. at 33, and that he could not determine the particular order in which the various injuries were inflicted. Id. at 32. Relating to the penalty phase portion of the claim, we reiterate that the Commonwealth did not present evidence during the penalty hearing, but rather incorporated the trial record in support of the torture aggravator. N.T. (Penalty Phase), Oct. 28, 2013, Volume VI, at 1323.15 Also at the penalty hearing, Appellant called Dr. 15 As noted supra, Dr. Land testified at trial that he conducted Jaques’s autopsy and detailed the multitude of injuries that Jaques suffered over nearly his entire body, many of which were inflicted within hours of his death. Dr. Land opined that the most significant injury to the torso was the lacerated liver, which would have caused severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and loss of bowel control, and which had been inflicted several hours before Jaques died. N.T. (Trial), Volume IV, Oct. 22, 2013, at 927, 929. Finally, Dr. Land found that Jaques’s severe brain injury would have rendered him unconscious, and happened at or about the time of death, as there was no evidence of healing. Id. at 927, 930. [J-2-2015] - 34 Fowler (who had testified on behalf of the Commonwealth at the pretrial hearing) in an attempt to refute that the killing was committed by means of torture. Appellant elicited testimony from Dr. Fowler establishing that he could not identify, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, when Jaques became unconscious from the beatings he endured. Id. at 1372. Dr. Fowler, however, further testified during the penalty phase that although he could not determine the precise order of the wounds inflicted on the day of the murder, the injuries were inflicted within approximately a four-hour period, and that the lacerated liver was the only injury that showed the migration of white cells, which is an early sign of healing. Id. at 1368-71. Thus, consistent with Dr. Land’s trial testimony, Dr. Fowler opined that the damage to Jaques’s liver, which contributed to his death, would have occurred first. Id. at 1371. When asked when Jaques would have become unconscious from the liver injury, Dr. Fowler responded that he did not know how quickly the blood loss from the lacerated liver would have occurred, but opined that “it took long enough because there is time for the polymer to actually infiltrate the actual injury. So it was not a rapid death.” Id. at 1372. Dr. Fowler also testified that Jaques’s head injury would likely render him unconscious, but could not state with certainty when that injury occurred. Id. at 1372-74. On cross-examination by the Commonwealth, Dr. Fowler reiterated his prior testimony that the injury to Jaques’s liver would cause severe pain. Id. at 1376-77. He explained that from the moment the liver was lacerated, Jaques would suffer severe pain each time he took a breath, resulting in an absolutely rigid abdominal cavity that was filling with blood. Id. at 1376-78. In both of the torture-related issues, Appellant harkens back to the same theme he relied upon, albeit unsuccessfully, in his challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence in Issue I, supra, i.e., that there was no medical evidence establishing when Jaques was [J-2-2015] - 35 rendered unconscious from Appellant’s repeated beatings. He infers from this purported lack of evidence that it would be mere speculation to conclude that Jaques suffered a considerable amount of pain and suffering that was unnecessarily heinous because “[p]ain cannot be felt by a person who is unconscious.” Brief for Appellant at 41. Appellant concludes that absent evidence that Jaques was conscious when the myriad of injuries were inflicted, the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proving the aggravating circumstance of torture beyond a reasonable doubt. For this same reason, he argues, the jury should not have even considered the torture aggravator during deliberations. The Commonwealth contends that Appellant’s claims lack merit. First, it submits that the trial court was correct in denying the pretrial motion to quash the torture aggravator based on Dr. Fowler’s testimony at the July 12, 2013 pretrial hearing. See Commonwealth v. Buck, 709 A.2d 892, 896 (Pa. 1998) (holding that the trial court may submit an aggravator for the jury’s consideration as long as it is supported by any evidence; the Commonwealth has no pretrial burden of proving aggravating circumstances); see also 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(c)(1)(i) (providing that the court shall instruct the jury regarding aggravating circumstances for which there is “some evidence”). The Commonwealth maintains that this meager showing of “any” or “some” evidence necessary to refute a pretrial challenge to an alleged aggravating circumstance was clearly satisfied here as Dr. Fowler’s pretrial testimony explained the severity of Jaques’s multiple injuries and demonstrated that each blow inflicted would have caused the defenseless toddler significant pain, beyond that required to kill, thereby satisfying the legal definition of torture. Accordingly, it concludes, the trial court did not err by denying Appellant’s pretrial motion to quash. [J-2-2015] - 36 Second, the Commonwealth refutes Appellant’s claim of insufficient evidence demonstrating torture during trial. It contends that the torture element is premised upon Appellant’s willful, deliberate and prolonged beating of Jaques, which resulted in blunt force trauma and internal hemorrhaging to the child’s brain, torso, and internal organs, which ultimately led to his death. It asserts that this case is akin to Commonwealth v. Smith, 675 A.2d 1221 (Pa. 1996) (plurality), where this Court found sufficient evidence of torture.16 In Smith, the defendant was convicted of first degree murder after he fatally beat the five-month-old baby who was in his care. The expert medical testimony opined that the baby’s brain had suffered trauma from six to eight blows to the head, that there were several bruises to the head, and that the baby’s clavicle was broken, which would have caused the infant pain every time he was picked up, shaken, or struck. Id. at 1227. The medical expert testimony further established that the baby experienced substantial pain during the beating, causing more pain than other causes of death such as shooting or stabbing. Id. Finally, the expert opined that between fifteen minutes and one hour elapsed before the baby stopped feeling pain. Id. This evidence, markedly similar to the evidence in the instant case, the Commonwealth asserts, was deemed sufficient to demonstrate torture. The trial court agreed with the Commonwealth and rejected Appellant’s claims, holding there was ample evidence at both the pretrial and penalty phase stages of the case to allow the jury to consider torture as an aggravating factor and to conclude that there was sufficient evidence in support thereof. Relating to the pretrial stage, the trial court cited extensively from the pretrial hearing testimony of Dr. Fowler who explained that he observed between twenty and thirty independent impacts to Jaques’s body, both 16 None of the responsive opinions filed in Smith disagreed with the analysis of the torture issue set forth in the Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court. [J-2-2015] - 37 fatal and nonfatal, some of which, including the lacerated liver, would have been extremely painful to the young victim. N.T. (Pretrial Hearing), Jul. 12, 2013, at 23, 25-26.17 The trial court emphasized that Dr. Fowler testified again during the penalty phase of trial, and his testimony remained the same. Trial Court Opinion dated Jul. 22, 2014, at 14 (citing N.T. (Penalty Phase), Oct. 28, 2013, Volume VI, at 1365-1383). The trial court concluded that ample evidence existed to show the number of injuries, the amount of pain suffered by Jaques as a result of those injuries, and the intentional nature of the injuries, thereby establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was committed by means of torture. Applying our settled jurisprudence to the facts presented, we conclude that the trial court’s analysis was correct. When viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, as verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that Appellant intentionally inflicted a considerable amount of pain and suffering upon Jaques that was unnecessarily heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity, beyond a mere intent to kill. It is beyond cavil that the sheer number of injuries inflicted upon nearly every surface of Jaques’s body, both fatal and nonfatal, over the course of hours, would cause unimaginable pain to the young child who had been placed in Appellant’s exclusive care. In addition to the myriad of non-fatal blows to Jaques’s body, and several hours before Jaques died, Appellant struck the toddler’s abdominal area with such force that his liver was nearly lacerated completely, which caused him significant pain, nausea, vomiting, and loss of bowel control. The jury could infer from this evidence that Jaques endured severe pain from the lacerated liver and the various contusions and 17 The trial court also noted that because there was an additional aggravating circumstance that was undisputed, i.e., that the victim was a child under twelve years of age, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(16), there is no question that the case was properly designated a capital case even absent the torture aggravator. [J-2-2015] - 38 abrasions until he was rendered unconscious hours later by Appellant’s final fatal blow to Jaques’s head. See N.T. (Trial), Volume IV, Oct. 22, 2013, at 27, 29-30 (referencing Dr. Land’s opinion that Jaques suffered a lacerated liver several hours before death, which caused substantial pain and discomfort, and that a blow to Jaques’s head at or near the time of death rendered him unconscious). Rather than seeking immediate medical attention for the ailing toddler, Appellant left Jaques in the bathtub to succumb to his injuries. We conclude that this evidence is sufficient to establish that Jaques’s killing was committed by means of torture. This Court has repeatedly found sufficient evidence of torture in cases, like the instant case, where an individual entrusted with the care of a child murders that child in a manner that inflicts considerable pain and suffering beyond that required to cause death. See Chambers, 980 A.2d at 55 (sustaining jury’s finding of torture where the defendant fatally beat the three-year old victim, forcefully threw her into a radiator, and then catapulted the child behind a bed where she was left to suffocate to death); Powell, 956 A.2d at 426 (finding sufficient evidence of torture where the defendant fatally beat his six-year-old son, causing non-fatal injuries as well as disfiguring his face and irreparably damaging his brain, which caused seizures that resulted in his death by asphyxiation); Karenbauer, 715 A.2d at 1099 (upholding the torture aggravator where the defendant fatally stabbed his child to death by inflicting eighteen stab wounds because had the defendant simply intended to kill the victim, he could have used his size advantage and knife to do so far more expeditiously); and Smith, 675 A.2d at 1233 (plurality) (holding there was sufficient evidence of torture where the defendant fatally beat a five-month-old baby who was in his care, causing severe head injury and a broken clavicle, which would have caused the infant pain every time the infant was picked up). [J-2-2015] - 39 Finally, having established that evidence supporting the torture aggravating circumstance existed during the pretrial stage of this case, we reject Appellant’s contention that the trial court erred in denying his pretrial motion to quash the torture aggravator. See Buck, 709 A.2d at 896 (holding that the trial court may submit an aggravator for the jury’s consideration as long as it is supported by any evidence); see also 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(c)(1)(i) (providing that the court shall instruct the jury regarding aggravating circumstances for which there is “some evidence”).