Opinion ID: 1886897
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Testimony of Lt. Dennis Steckel

Text: Appellant contends that the testimony of Lt. Dennis Steckel (Steckel), who identified his employer as the Allentown Police Department Youth Division, that he was familiar with Appellant, knew what school Appellant attended, and where Appellant resided in 1984 and 1986, was prejudicial because it would allow the jury to infer that Appellant had engaged in prior criminal activity as a juvenile. Additionally, Appellant argues that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to this testimony. In support of his argument, Appellant cites to Commonwealth v. Groce, 452 Pa. 15, 303 A.2d 917, cert. denied, 414 U.S. 975, 94 S.Ct. 290, 38 L.Ed.2d 219 (1973), where this Court found prejudicial error when a police officer, while testifying for the Commonwealth, revealed that he came across defendant's nickname during prior investigations and discovered his last name after searching through the police files. See 303 A.2d at 918. Unlike Groce, however, there was no indication that Lt. Steckel was familiar with Appellant through the performance of his duties or that Appellant's name was in the police files. We find the present circumstances more akin to Commonwealth v. Carpenter, 511 Pa. 429, 515 A.2d 531 (1986), where a witness, after identifying himself as a parole officer, testified about a conversation he had with the defendant. In Carpenter, we reasoned that: [A] mistrial was not warranted and that little, if any prejudice accrued to appellant by this witness' passing reference to his occupation as a parole officer.    [T]he mention of the witness' occupation as a parole officer and the fact that he knew the appellant did not convey to the jury, either expressly or by reasonable implication, the fact of a prior criminal offense or record. Such an inference, while certainly possible, was most certainly not conveyed to the jury by the mere mention of the witness' occupation and the fact that he knew appellant, as there are an infinite variety of ways that appellant might otherwise know a person who was a parole officer. Id. at 534-35 (emphasis in original). This analysis is equally applicable to the instant matter, as we believe that the mere reference to the witness' employment in conjunction with his familiarity with Appellant did not convey to the jury that Appellant had a prior criminal record as a juvenile. See Carpenter, supra; Commonwealth v. Riggins, 478 Pa. 222, 386 A.2d 520, 524 (1978) (To conclude that appellant had committed prior crimes from a detective's single statement that he knew where appellant lived, the jury would have to indulge in gross speculation). Therefore, we reject the claims Appellant has asserted in reference to the testimony of Lt. Steckel.