Opinion ID: 779188
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State appeals.

Text: 18 Lam brought a direct appeal in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. The Superior Court affirmed Lam's conviction and rejected her allegations of constitutional error. 19 The Superior Court agreed that Lam's statements were voluntary. It did, however, acknowledge the government's threats of violence: Although the Fuk Ching was known for violence, the agents' statements that they would not be as `polite' next time, and that if she did not pay `we will hold up together and die together,' were insufficient to overcome Appellant's will and self-determination. Appellant never wavered from her repeated contention that she did not know what the agents were referring to, nor did Appellant contact the police after the agents left. 20 In addition, the Superior Court rejected Lam's claim that her Confrontation Clause rights were violated by admission of testimony regarding Xie's offer of payment. Because Xie did not himself testify, Lam had no opportunity to cross-examine Xie. The Superior Court found that this was not a Confrontation Clause violation, however, as Xie's statement contained sufficient indicia of reliability. Namely, it found that Xie's statement was spontaneous, against his penal interests, and would not be proven unreliable on cross examination. 21 The Superior Court also addressed the merits of Lam's vouching arguments in the context of her claim that trial counsel was ineffective. 4 It rejected Lam's arguments that the prosecution's statements and testimony offered by Trooper Stanalonis and Special Agent Troutmann violated her fair trial rights. The court did, however, note that a small part of Trooper Stanalonis's testimony expressed belief in Yeung's veracity at the time of the investigatory interview. The court ultimately dismissed this claim on the ground that it did not create unfair prejudice depriving Lam of a fair trial. Judge Cavanaugh dissented from this ruling and argued that the introduction of Yeung's plea agreement, as well as the vouching testimony offered by Agent Troutmann and Officer Stanalonis, required a new trial. 22 Lam then petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for an allowance of appeal. She raised four federal issues in her petition: (1) the vouching by the prosecution was improper, (2) her counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the prosecution's vouching, (3) the admission of a statement by a non-testifying co-defendant was hearsay and violated the confrontation clause, and (4) Lam's statements to the police and the fruit of those statements should have been suppressed under the due process clause because they were involuntary. The Supreme Court denied Lam's request for an appeal on June 17, 1997. 23