Court Opinion

ID: 9865425
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 17:08:45.460095+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:36:19.394391
License: Public Domain

J-S19032-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

  COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                 :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                               :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                               :
                v.                             :
                                               :
                                               :
  ANTHONY BILLY ALEXANDER                      :
                                               :
                       Appellant               :   No. 1257 MDA 2022

        Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered August 8, 2022
                 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County
            Criminal Division at No(s): CP-67-CR-0003658-2021

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., McLAUGHLIN, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SULLIVAN, J.:                        FILED SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

       Anthony Billy Alexander (“Alexander”) appeals from the judgment of

sentence imposed following his conviction for persons not to possess a

firearm.1 We affirm.

       The trial court summarized the relevant factual and procedural history

as follows:

             In the early morning of May 21, 2021, Naomy Williams . . .
       heard a pop sound and began to play the all too familiar guessing
       game of gunshots or fireworks. Ms. Williams testified that when
       she was in the bathroom, she looked out the window to see . . .
       Alexander . . . discharging a semi-automatic firearm into the air.
       She stated that she heard five shots go off while on the phone
       with 911.     [Alexander] was discharging the semi-automatic
       firearm on South West Street in York, Pennsylvania.

              Ms. Williams had identified [Alexander] as one of her
       neighbors. Ms. Williams stated that [Alexander] was around six
       feet tall, with a slim build, and wearing a bright red outfit. Around
____________________________________________

1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105(a)(1).
J-S19032-23

      the same time[] Ms. Williams was on the phone with 911[,] Officer
      Timothy McDonnell arrived at the scene. Once there, Officer
      McDonnell immediately spot[ted] a suspect matching the given
      description. Officer McDonnell stated that [Alexander] appeared
      to be incoherent at the time of his encounter.          Instead,
      [Alexander], who was under the influence of PCP and milk,
      decided to run into his house and discard his gun[;] however,
      [Alexander] fell up the stairs. Subsequently, Officer McDonnell
      arrested [Alexander] and swabbed [his] hand for gunshot residue,
      which later confirmed the presence of gunshot residue on
      [Alexander’s] hands and clothes.

            . . . [Alexander] was . . . charged with unlawful possession
      of a firearm by persons not to possess, reckless endangering
      another person [(“REAP”)], and possession of a firearm not to be
      carried without a license. The Commonwealth disposed of the
      possession of a firearm without a license at the lower court.

Trial Court Opinion, 11/2/22, at 1-3 (headings, footnotes, unnecessary

capitalization, and citations to the record omitted).

      In July 2022, the matter proceeded to a jury trial on the persons not to

possess charge.     The parties stipulated that Alexander was not legally

permitted to carry a firearm.    During its case in chief, the Commonwealth

proceeded on theories that Alexander had, at times, both actual and

constructive possession of the firearm. Prior to their deliberations, the trial

court instructed the jury on both actual and constructive possession.

Ultimately, the jury found Alexander not guilty of REAP, but guilty of persons

not to possess. However, the jury specified on the verdict sheet that, with

respect to persons not to possess, it found Alexander “guilty-constructive

possession.” See Verdict Slip, 7/12/22. The jury foreperson also announced

in open court that the jury found Alexander “guilty under constructive

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possession.” N.T., 7/12/22, at 2. On August 8, 2022, the trial court sentenced

Alexander to eight to sixteen years in prison. Alexander did not file a post-

sentence motion. Alexander filed a timely notice of appeal, and both he and

the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

      Alexander raises the following issue for our review:

             Was the evidence insufficient to sustain . . . Alexander’s
      conviction where the jury explicitly stated orally and in writing that
      it found him guilty of constructive possession, but all evidence of
      possession concerned actual as opposed to constructive
      possession?

Alexander’s Brief at 4.

      Our standard of review of a sufficiency claim is well-settled:

            [W]e evaluate the record in the light most favorable to the
      verdict winner giving the prosecution the benefit of all reasonable
      inferences to be drawn from the evidence. Evidence will be
      deemed sufficient to support the verdict when it establishes each
      material element of the crime charged and the commission thereof
      by the accused, beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, the
      Commonwealth need not establish guilt to a mathematical
      certainty. [T]he facts and circumstances established by the
      Commonwealth need not be absolutely incompatible with the
      defendant’s innocence. Any doubt about the defendant’s guilt is
      to be resolved by the fact finder unless the evidence is so weak
      and inconclusive that, as a matter of law, no probability of fact
      can be drawn from the combined circumstances.

Commonwealth v. Franklin, 69 A.3d 719, 722 (Pa. Super. 2013) (citations

and quotation marks omitted).

      Furthermore, the jury, as trier of fact, is free to believe, all, part, or

none of the evidence presented when making credibility determinations. See

Commonwealth v. Beasley, 138 A.3d 39, 45 (Pa. Super. 2016). In deciding

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a sufficiency of the evidence claim, this Court may not reweigh the evidence

and substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder. See Commonwealth

v. Williams, 153 A.3d 372, 375 (Pa. Super. 2016).

      Pursuant to section 6105(a)(1), a person not to possess a firearm is

defined as:

            A person who has been convicted of [certain enumerated]
      offense[s] . . . shall not possess, use, control, sell, transfer or
      manufacture or obtain a license to possess, use, control, sell,
      transfer or manufacture a firearm in this Commonwealth.

18 Pa.C.S.A § 6105.

      The Commonwealth may establish illegal possession of a firearm by

actual or constructive possession. See Commonwealth v. Parker, 847 A.2d

745, 750 (Pa. Super. 2005). Constructive possession is an inference arising

from a set of facts that possession of the contraband was more likely than

not. See Commonwealth v. Mudrick, 507 A.2d 1212, 1213 (Pa. 1986).

With respect to constructive possession, this Court has explained:

             When contraband is not found on the defendant’s person,
      the Commonwealth must establish “constructive possession,” that
      is, the power to control the contraband and the intent to exercise
      that control. The fact that another person may also have control
      and access does not eliminate the defendant’s constructive
      possession. . . . As with any other element of a crime,
      constructive possession may be proven by circumstantial
      evidence. The requisite knowledge and intent may be inferred
      from the totality of the circumstances.

Commonwealth v. Haskins, 677 A.2d 328, 330 (Pa. Super. 1996) (internal

citations omitted).

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      Alexander points out that, although the jury found him guilty, it only

found him guilty under a theory of constructive possession of the firearm.

Alexander acknowledges that the evidence demonstrated that he possessed

the firearm; however, he maintains that there was no evidence of constructive

possession in the case. Alexander asserts that to “allow [his] conviction to

rest on evidence of actual possession would do violence to the jury’s ‘inviolate’

expression of its intent.” Alexander’s Brief at 21. Alexander contends that,

because there was no evidence in the case regarding his constructive

possession of the firearm, the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s

verdict that he constructively possessed it. Alexander concedes that he was

in proximity to the firearm after he dropped it; however, he claims that he ran

away from the firearm and was then arrested. According to Alexander, “he

had neither the ability nor the intent to control [the firearm] as he was

affirmatively relinquishing both.” Id. at 25.

      The trial court considered Alexander’s issue and determined that it

lacked merit. The court reasoned:

             The Commonwealth presented multiple eyewitnesses that
      identified [Alexander] as being in control of the gun. The [jury]
      heard testimony from [Ms.] Williams, a neighbor to [Alexander],
      stating that on May 21, 2021, she saw [him] discharging a gun
      into the air.    The jury also heard testimony from [Officer]
      McDonnell, who stated that [Alexander] had the gun in his hand
      when he arrived on the scene.

            Additionally, the jury heard testimony from Officer Daryl
      Harang, who processed the crime scene and found fresh shell
      casings and a live round at the location. Lastly, the jury heard
      testimony from Tarah Helsel, an expert witness, who performed

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      test samples on [Alexander’s] clothes and hands, indicating
      gunshot residue on both [his] hands and clothing.

Trial Court Opinion, 11/2/22, at 7-8 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

      Based on our review of the evidence, evaluated in the light most

favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict winner, we conclude that the

evidence was sufficient to convict Alexander of possession of a firearm by a

prohibited person. At trial, Officer McDonnell testified that he and his partner

were dispatched to a call regarding shots fired at 133 South West Street. See

N.T., 7/11-12/22, at 141.    When the officers arrived at the scene, Officer

McDonnell saw Alexander walking up the street holding a firearm. Id. at 145.

Officer McDonnell ordered Alexander to drop the firearm; however, Alexander

ran to 133 South West Street, where he resides.        Id. at 146.   Alexander

entered the open front door into a common area for two separate residences,

one upstairs and one downstairs.       Id.   Officer McDonnell explained that

Alexander then “dropped [the firearm] right about in there and then ran

inside.” Id. From his vantage point, Officer McDonnell saw Alexander trip on

the upward stairwell, and the officer ordered Alexander to come to him. Id.

at 146-47. Tarah Helsel, a forensic scientist, testified that testing from the

swabs taken from Alexander’s hands and clothing revealed gunshot residue.

Id. at 246-49. Additionally, Officer Daryl Harang, a crime scene examiner,

testified that fresh shell casings were found at and around Alexander’s

residence. Id. at 175-87.

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       Giving the prosecution the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be

drawn from this testimony, it is clear that Alexander constructively possessed

the firearm when he dropped it in the common area of his residence. The

totality of this evidence was indicative that Alexander, when he placed the

firearm in an area over which he had possession and control, had both the

power to control the firearm and the intent to exercise such control of the

firearm, even if only momentarily. The jury apparently chose to find that, at

the moment in time when Alexander dropped the firearm, he constructively

possessed it.2 That finding is sufficiently supported by the evidence of record.

Accordingly, no relief is due.

       Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 09/25/2023

____________________________________________

2 We cannot infer from the jury’s determination that the acts comprising actual

possession did not occur, as the jury may have been simply exercising
leniency toward Alexander. See Commonwealth v. Carter, 282 A.2d 375,
376 (Pa. 1971) (explaining that an acquittal cannot be interpreted as a specific
finding in relation to some of the evidence because the jury has the sole
prerogative to decide that a conviction on some counts will provide sufficient
punishment so as to acquit on the remaining counts).

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