Opinion ID: 2399306
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Issuance of a flight/concealment charge

Text: Appellant avers that the trial court erred in instructing the jury with respect to flight and/or concealment as circumstantial evidence of his guilt. As he acknowledges, however, where evidence exists that a defendant committed a crime, knew he was wanted, and fled or concealed himself, such evidence is admissible to establish consciousness of guilt. See Commonwealth v. Tinsley, 465 Pa. 329, 333, 350 A.2d 791, 792-93 (1976). Johnson contends, nevertheless, that the trial court's instruction was improper, because there was no direct testimony showing that he knew that he was sought after by the police, and the evidence revealed that he resided in New York near the time of the shooting. A defendant's knowledge may be inferred from the circumstances attendant his flight. See Commonwealth v. Lester, 554 Pa. 644, 658, 722 A.2d 997, 1003 (1998) (citing Commonwealth v. Rios, 546 Pa. 271, 291, 684 A.2d 1025, 1035 (1996)); see also Tinsley, 465 Pa. at 333, 350 A.2d at 793 (concluding that such an inference was justified where the evidence revealed that the defendant abandoned his normal pattern of living without explanation and could not be located at his residence or place of employment or through contacts to his relatives). Here, there was evidence that Johnson disrupted his normal pattern of living following Combs' killing. Further, the police conducted an extensive search spanning Pennsylvania and New York, but were unable to locate Johnson for over one and one-half years when he was finally taken into custody by the FBI in New York. Johnson's knowledge that he was wanted could be inferred from Detective Dietrich's testimony that he informed Johnson's friends and family in New York that he held a warrant for Johnson's arrest. Additionally, the difficulty in locating Appellant is consistent with Ramsey's testimony that, after Combs' murder, she was told by Izod, who was a member of Johnson's drug-trafficking group, It's too hot and we [are] laying low. The court therefore properly determined that the Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to warrant the concealment/flight charge.