Opinion ID: 2422962
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Trial Court's Discretionary Rulings

Text: Lesko's next claim relates to the trial court's refusal to permit him to introduce evidence that co-defendant Travaglia had also received a sentence of death for the murder of Officer Miller. Lesko contends that such information would have been invaluable, since the evidence showed that he was not the triggerman, the Commonwealth prosecuted him on an accomplice liability theory, and his trial counsel argued to the jury that he was a minor participant in the crime. According to Lesko, the law requires that capital sentencing juries be given all information relative to a defendant's mitigating circumstances and sentences received by more culpable criminal confederates, in his view, may prove a mitigating circumstance. Lesko cites Parker v. Dugger, 498 U.S. 308, 111 S.Ct. 731, 112 L.Ed.2d 812 (1991), in support of his claim, arguing that Parker stands for the proposition that sentences received by more culpable confederates are relevant in determining whether the defendant's lesser participation in the crime warrants a sentence other than death. In his PCRA petition, Lesko posed this claim as one sounding in counsel ineffectiveness, albeit he devoted the bulk of his pleading to explaining why he believed the trial court erred in refusing to admit such evidence, and then merely appended a one-sentence allegation as to prior counsel's ineffectiveness. (The argument in the petition was typical of the manner in which Lesko has presented his ineffectiveness claims.) Lesko's complaint as presented in his appellate brief, however, alleges only trial court error. Any claim of trial court error is obviously waived, as Lesko could have raised it at trial and on direct appeal, but he did not. The PCRA court evaluated the underlying, defaulted claim and deemed it to lack merit, without speaking specifically to the cognizable claim of counsel ineffectiveness. [25] The court reasoned that Lesko and his co-defendant were sentenced by different juries and each jury was to assess the individual mitigating and aggravating circumstances as they related to each participant. The task for Lesko's jury was to weigh the circumstances as they related to Lesko; his co-defendant's penalty was irrelevant to that consideration. Furthermore, the PCRA court explained that Lesko's challenge failed as it was simply a dressed-up challenge to the proportionality of his sentence. The Commonwealth echoes the PCRA court's analysis, and likewise does not address the overarching, cognizable claim of counsel ineffectiveness. As noted, Lesko poses his claim solely as a claim of trial court error, and has not argued a derivative claim of ineffectiveness on this appeal, even though he couched the claim in terms of prior counsel ineffectiveness below. The PCRA provides that a claim is waived when it could have been raised before trial, at trial, or on appeal. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9544(b). As Lesko's current and exclusive claim of trial court error could have been raised on direct appeal and as it is no longer raised in terms of prior counsel's ineffectiveness, it is waived. Even presuming that the claim was not waived, we agree with the PCRA court that Lesko's underlying claim lacks merit. This Court has had the opportunity to consider this same question on prior occasions, in arguably more compelling circumstances, i.e., in circumstances where co-defendants received lesser sentences. In Commonwealth v. Haag, 522 Pa. 388, 562 A.2d 289 (1989), the appellant argued that his death sentence was arbitrary and capricious in light of the fact that the other participants in the crime did not receive death sentences. The appellant also contended that the trial court erred in refusing to apprise the jury of these lesser sentences. In resolving these questions, we explained that sentencing is a highly individualized matter and the aggravating and mitigating circumstances applicable to any one defendant are variable as well. Id. at 299. We also clarified that the disposition of the matters against the accomplices had no bearing on the appellant's sentence. Id. at 298. Accordingly, we rejected the appellant's argument. Id.; see also Commonwealth v. Williams, 586 Pa. 553, 896 A.2d 523, 547 (2006); Commonwealth v. Lopez, 578 Pa. 545, 854 A.2d 465, 471 (2004). Lesko's theory is nearly identical to the one pursued by Haag and rejected by this Court. While evidence that a capital defendant played a lesser role in the murder than a confederate may be relevant evidence in mitigation, the sentence received by a criminal confederate is not, especially given the individualized nature of sentencing. The sentences received by confederates are not probative of specific statutory mitigators, nor are they relevant evidence respecting the defendant's character or record or the circumstances of the offense itself, which states must permit. See Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1, 4, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986) (capital sentencer cannot be precluded from considering, as mitigating factor, aspects of defendant's character or record and circumstances of offense proffered as basis for sentence less than death); 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(e) (outlining statutory mitigators, including character/record/circumstances catchall mitigator at subsection (e)(8), which obviously mirrors the requirements of Skipper.  Commonwealth v. Harris, 572 Pa. 489, 817 A.2d 1033, 1054 (2002)). Lesko fails to acknowledge this governing authority much less does he attempt to distinguish it. Moreover, the decision in Parker has no application here. Parker involved the High Court's review of the process the Florida state courts followed in imposing and reviewing a sentence of death under the Florida statutory scheme. Lesko does not raise a similar challenge here. Specifically, in Parker, the U.S. Supreme Court reiterated that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the arbitrary or irrational imposition of a sentence of death. In that case, the High Court was called upon to review the Florida Supreme Court's decision affirming a sentence of death. The broad question presented was whether the sentence of death met federal constitutional requirements. In answering the question, the Court needed to determine the effect the trial court and the Florida appellate court gave to evidence of non-statutory mitigators. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that before imposing the sentence of death, the trial court must first have considered the non-statutory mitigating evidence [26] including, inter alia, the fact that none of the accomplices had received a sentence of death for the murders. The Court then concluded that the Florida Supreme Court also needed to consider the non-statutory mitigating evidence in reviewing the sentence of death. The state appellate court, however, did not do so. Instead, the state court struck two (out of six) aggravating circumstances relied upon by the trial court but neither conducted an independent weighing of the remaining evidence (including consideration of the non-statutory mitigating evidence) nor a harmless error analysis. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the state appellate court's approach did not amount to meaningful appellate review of the death sentence, and, therefore, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibition against the arbitrary or irrational imposition of a sentence of death. Lesko's reliance on Parker is misplaced. Parker nowhere imposes a constitutional requirement that the sentence received by a co-conspirator be admitted as mitigating evidence. The mere fact that the Florida trial court permitted such evidence to be introduced during the sentencing phase of the proceedings, and that this was part of the factual scenario the U.S. Supreme Court was given, does not elevate it to a constitutional requirement. Rather, Parker stands for the proposition that an appellate court cannot ignore such evidence upon appellate review when that evidence is in the record and the appellate task, under the state review system in place, requires consideration of the whole record. In this case, there was no such evidence placed in the record. As stated previously, this Court has repeatedly concluded that evidence of the sentences received by co-defendants is not required to be included at sentencing. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court has not held, or even indicated, to the contrary. Accordingly, even if not waived, Lesko's claim fails. Lesko next argues that the trial court erroneously permitted evidence of his prior bad acts to be admitted, and that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to seek an appropriate limiting instruction and for not pursuing the issue on direct appeal. Lesko points to the specific evidence that was admitted regarding the Levato, Newcomer, and Nicholls murders and contends that such evidence was unnecessary to prove any aggravating circumstances. Lesko also contends that evidence of the robberies that he allegedly committed with his co-defendant should not have been admitted as they were crimes for which he was not convicted. Furthermore, according to Lesko, this evidence, once admitted, should have been accompanied by an appropriate jury instruction to the effect that the evidence was not proffered to show his bad character or criminal propensity, but was only admitted for the limited purpose of establishing the history of the case. The PCRA court addressed only the admissibility of the evidence, and noted that this claim was previously litigated on direct appeal. Lesko acknowledges that the underlying claim concerning admissibility was litigated on direct appeal, but insists that his current claim is reviewable to the extent it is based on counsel's failure to seek a cautionary instruction, an issue that was not raised or addressed on direct appeal. We will consider the distinct, but limited Sixth Amendment aspect of the claim. Collins, supra. On the direct appeal from his resentencing, Lesko argued that the Commonwealth should not have been permitted to present evidence regarding his prior bad acts, including specific evidence surrounding the nature and circumstances of the other three murders. In rejecting Lesko's claim, this Court held that the nature and circumstances were relevant to the jury's consideration of Lesko's character and record. The nature of the offense, as ascertained, through examination of the circumstances concomitant to its commission, has much bearing upon the character of a defendant, and indeed, without reference to those facts and circumstances, consideration of `convictions' would be a hollow process, yielding far less information about a defendant's character than is relevant. Lesko, 719 A.2d at 224-25 (quoting Commonwealth v. Beasley, 505 Pa. 279, 479 A.2d 460, 465 (1984)). Thus, we concluded that since there has been no showing of undue prejudice, this was a relevant and proper factor in the jury's consideration of the sentence which should be imposed. Lesko, 719 A.2d at 225. Recognizing that the question of admissibility and direct review prejudice has already been determined, we pass to the question of whether trial counsel was obliged to request a specific instruction from the trial court regarding the jury's consideration of this same evidence. Of course, there was nothing to prevent trial counsel from requesting a cautionary charge, but Lesko has not established that his trial counsel did not have a reasonable trial strategy for failing to request such an instruction. The Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that the argument section of the appellate briefs must direct the court's attention to the relevant section of the record necessary to assess a claim. See Pa.R.A.P. 2119 and 2132. This is not a case where the PCRA claim was summarily dismissed; rather, there was a hearing below. Lesko does not point to the part of the PCRA hearing record which shows that trial counsel was asked and explained why he did not request a cautionary instruction. Furthermore, while PCRA counsel inquired into this area generally in his examination of prior counsel, our independent review of the record indicates that trial counsel was never asked his reasons for failing to request a cautionary charge; and yet that distinct point is the entire basis for Lesko's current ineffectiveness claim, which is limited in scope given that the admissibility question was already litigated against him. See N.T., 12/16/1999, at 433-36. It is well settled that the decision whether to seek a jury instruction implicates a matter of trial strategy. See Commonwealth v. Hawkins, 586 Pa. 366, 894 A.2d 716, 730 (2006); Commonwealth v. Garcia, 585 Pa. 160, 888 A.2d 633, 638 (2005); Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 450 Pa. 273, 299 A.2d 608, 610 (1973). Accordingly, based on the record before us, and because Lesko has not established any ground for deeming counsel per se ineffective, Lesko has not sustained his burden of showing that trial counsel did not have a reasonable trial strategy for failing to request a cautionary instruction. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Puksar, 597 Pa. 240, 951 A.2d 267, 277-78 (2008). [27]