Opinion ID: 2066555
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admission of appellant's letters to Kevin Cofer

Text: Appellant next claims that the PCRA court erred in denying a hearing on his claim that direct appeal counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the trial court erred in admitting, without properly authenticating, two letters that appellant wrote to Cofer, imploring Cofer not to testify against him. Appellant submits that, after the prosecution introduced the letters at trial, Cofer denied having read or received them and appellant provided a handwriting exemplar that allegedly confirmed that appellant was not the author of the letters. Citing Pa.R.E. 901, the Commonwealth counterargues that the letters were authenticated by their distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with the circumstances of the case, as having been written by [appellant]. Commonwealth's Brief at 64-65. In particular, the Commonwealth notes that the letters: were mailed from the prison in which appellant was incarcerated; contained appellant's unique seven-digit prison identification number; urged a course of conduct that would benefit appellant and only appellant; and identified appellant's trial counsel by name. Citing our direct appeal opinion in this case, the Commonwealth further argues that, in any event, the letters were admitted not as evidence of appellant's consciousness of guilt but to explain Cofer's recantation of his prior statements implicating appellant. Id. at 65-66 (citing ( Rodney) Collins, 702 A.2d at 544). Thus, the Commonwealth explains, the letters did not need to be authenticated as actually written by appellant but, rather, merely as purporting to have been written by appellant because even the latter would serve as persuasive evidence to explain Cofer's recantation. In denying relief on this claim, the PCRA court noted numerous circumstances that together served to authenticate the letters, including, inter alia: that appellant's name and address were on the return address of both envelopes; that both letters addressed Cofer as Kabir/Kev, which Cofer testified were his nicknames; and that the contents of the letters mentioned appellant's trial counsel by name and otherwise connected the letters to appellant. The admission of evidence is a matter committed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and the decision to admit certain evidence will not be overturned absent an abuse of that discretion. E.g., Commonwealth v. Edwards, 588 Pa. 151, 903 A.2d 1139, 1156 (2006), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 2030, 167 L.Ed.2d 772 (2007). Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 901 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: Rule 901. Requirement of authentication or identification (a) General provision. The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. (b) Illustrations. By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the requirements of this rule:     (4) Distinctive characteristics and the like. Appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances.