Opinion ID: 1927414
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Call Witnesses Guilt Phase:

Text: Appellant next contends that he should be awarded a new trial because his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call Jamal Price as a witness on his behalf. Appellant alleges that Price would have provided him with an alibi defense since Price's testimony would have shown that Price was with appellant at appellant's mother's house at the time of the murder. As noted above, appellant can only sustain such an ineffectiveness claim for failing to interview or call a witness if he proves: (1) the existence and availability of the witness; (2) counsel's awareness of, or duty to know of the witness; (3) the witness' willingness and ability to cooperate and appear on behalf of appellant; and (4) the necessity of the proposed testimony in order to avoid prejudice. Stanley, 534 Pa. at 300, 632 A.2d at 872. After conducting a post-trial hearing on the ineffectiveness claim, the trial court found that appellant initially informed his trial counsel before trial that he had an alibi defense. However, at a subsequent meeting prior to trial, appellant informed his trial counsel that his alibi defense was not true and that he was present at the scene of the murder, but that the shooting was an accident. As this Court has stated: [T]here can be no ineffectiveness of trial counsel for failure to call an alibi witness when the defendant admits that his testimony would be perjured. Counsel cannot be held ineffective for failure to suborn perjury. Commonwealth v. Jones, 501 Pa. 162, 167, 460 A.2d 739, 741 (1983). Here, appellant admitted that the alibi defense was false. Thus, his trial counsel cannot be deemed ineffective for failing to present perjured testimony. Accordingly, this claim must fail. Appellant also contends that he is entitled to a new trial because trial counsel was ineffective for failing to inform appellant that if he testified at the guilt phase of his trial that he could not be cross-examined about his prior bad acts, including his criminal history. Appellant asserts that if his attorney had advised him of such, he would have testified that he had an alibi for the time of the murder. Appellant's contention is patently baseless. After conducting the post-trial hearing on appellant's ineffectiveness claims, the trial court found that at the time of trial, appellant had the following criminal record: (1) a juvenile adjudication on November 14, 1986, for possession of a weapon on school property; (2) a juvenile adjudication on June 12, 1986, for burglary, criminal trespass and criminal conspiracy; (3) a juvenile adjudication on November 23, 1987, for delivery of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and criminal conspiracy; and (4) a federal conviction on June 1, 1994 for four counts of false statements in acquisition of firearms and one count of criminal conspiracy. The trial court also found that appellant's trial counsel informed appellant of his options on testifying and that appellant's trial counsel informed appellant that he believed that appellant's prior convictions could not be used to impeach appellant. [12] Moreover, the trial court found that the decision whether to testify at the guilt phase of appellant's trial was the decision of appellant alone and that appellant retained the final decision on whether to testify or not. Based on these factual findings and credibility determinations by the trial court, which are supported by the record, we conclude that appellant was properly advised by his trial counsel on whether to testify and that appellant freely chose not to testify. [13] Accordingly, this claim of ineffectiveness must fail. See Commonwealth v. Cross, 535 Pa. 38, 44-45, 634 A.2d 173, 176 (1993), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 833, 115 S.Ct. 109, 130 L.Ed.2d 56 (1994) (c) Prosecutorial Misconduct  Guilt Phase: Appellant next claims that he should be awarded a new trial because his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor's remark during closing argument at the guilt phase of trial for asking the jury to send a message to Philadelphia criminals. [14] In particular, appellant argues that the prosecutor overstepped the lines of oratorical flair by arguing to the jury that: I would ask you to send a message, and that is, you come out here from Philadelphia, as we have proven, and shoot someone like the defendant did, once in the face and once in the back of the head, you are guilty of first degree murder. (N.T. 10/27/94 at 801). As noted above, comments by a prosecutor do not constitute reversible error unless the unavoidable effect of such comments would be to prejudice the jury, forming in their minds a fixed bias and hostility toward the defendant so that they could not weigh the evidence objectively and render a true verdict. Simmons, 541 Pa. at 246-47, 662 A.2d at 639. Also, a prosecutor's comments must be examined within the context in which they were made. Jones, 542 Pa. at 512, 668 A.2d at 514. Moreover, a jury's determination must be based solely upon the evidence and not a prosecutor's emotional appeal or crusading incitation to make a statement to the judicial system or to convince the jury that a certain verdict is necessary as a form of retribution for the ills inflicted on society by a certain class of people. See LaCava, 542 Pa. at 192-93, 666 A.2d at 237; See also Commonwealth v. Crawley, 514 Pa. 539, 559, 526 A.2d 334, 344 (1987). Here, the evidence presented at trial showed that: appellant lived in Philadelphia; the robbery was planned in Philadelphia; appellant left Philadelphia for Coatesville in order to effectuate the robbery; appellant returned to Philadelphia after the robbery; and, appellant confessed to his participation in the murder in Philadelphia. Based on this evidence, we conclude that the prosecutor did not ask the jury to find appellant guilty simply because he was from Philadelphia. Rather, the prosecutor was providing a short synopsis of the crime which originated in Philadelphia and was consummated with the shooting in Coatesville. The reference to appellant being from Philadelphia in this exhortation was an accurate summary of the facts surrounding the murder. Therefore, the prosecutor's comments were proper remarks since they neither caused the jury to form a fixed bias or hostility towards appellant nor did they ask the jury to send a message to the judicial system or the residents of Philadelphia who commit crimes in a surrounding county. See Commonwealth v. Peterkin, 538 Pa. 455, 471, 649 A.2d 121, 129 (1994) (prosecutor's comment asking jury to send out a message about the conduct engaged by that man as he sits passively at that table [that his conduct] cannot be condoned among civilized men was not improper since it did not exhort jury to return a death sentence as a message to judicial system). Accordingly, appellant's trial counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim. Commonwealth v. Travaglia, 541 Pa. 108, 140, 661 A.2d 352, 368 (1995) (counsel cannot be deemed ineffective if underlying claim devoid of merit). While this Court in the past has approved statements concerning the jury sending messages with their verdicts in criminal cases, such exhortations, made by either the prosecutor or the defense, in essence urge the jury to ignore their sworn duty to decide a matter only on the proper facts presented in evidence and the applicable law. Accordingly, we advise all parties in criminal matters before any court in the Commonwealth to refrain from such exhortation in the future.