Court Opinion

ID: 9391227
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-01 16:07:06.705305+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:40.202945
License: Public Domain

J-S10022-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA               :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                               :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                               :
                v.                             :
                                               :
                                               :
    WINDEL HOLMES                              :
                                               :
                       Appellant               :   No. 818 EDA 2022

        Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered January 7, 2022
     In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County Criminal Division at
                       No(s): CP-23-CR-0001793-2019

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., LAZARUS, J., and STABILE, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.:                                  FILED MAY 1, 2023

        Windel Holmes appeals from the judgment of sentence, imposed in the

Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, after a jury convicted him of two

counts each of criminal conspiracy1 and aggravated assault (F-1 and F-2),2

and one count each of possessing instruments of crime3 and possession of a

firearm without a license.4 The trial court also convicted Holmes of possession

of a firearm prohibited.5 After our careful review, we affirm.

____________________________________________

1   18 Pa.C.S.A. § 903.

2   Id. at § 2702.

3   Id. at § 907.

4   Id. at § 6106.

5   Id. at § 6105.
J-S10022-23

       The Honorable Kevin F. Kelly6 set forth the facts of this matter as

follows:

       Angelica Pena met [] Holmes in 2018, both having lived on
       Baltimore Pike in East Lansdowne, when they entered a
       “relationship” that continued to August 2018.     N.T. [Trial,]
       11/16/21, [at] 74-75. [In 2018,] Holmes lived on Melrose Street
       in East Lansdowne with his grandmother and his brother,
       Jermaine Jackson. [Id. at] 76. [Holmes] was known to carry a
       gun that he kept in his bed. [Id. at] 149.

       Sometime in early August 2018, Ms. Pena knew of tension
       between [] Holmes and Kevan Jackson, who resided at 70 East
       Penn Boulevard in East Lansdowne, two (2) blocks from Melrose
       Street. Kevan Jackson is a brother of the victim, Kahleef Jackson
       ([“Victim”]).   [Id. at] 80[,] 83.     Ms. Pena[,] through her
       relationship with [Holmes] and local residency[,] was aware these
       “rivals” (Kevan Jackson and [] Holmes) disagreed about “who runs
       the block, Melrose.” [Id. at] 123.

       Relatedly, Kevan Jackson and [Holmes] had exchanged
       adversarial social media posts. [Id. at] 81. These combative
       media postings led [] Holmes to desire a direct conversation with
       Kevan Jackson, while he relatedly observed, “Yeah he’s talking
       crazy. He’s talking crazy about our block.” [Id. at] 112-13.

       Early on August 18, 2018, [] Holmes saw his brother, Jermaine
       Jackson, and Angelica Pena at a store on the corner of Melrose
       Street and Baltimore Pike, and announced his intention to then
       “talk” to Kevan Jackson. [Id. at] 82, 83 and 114. Ms. Pena
       described [] Holmes’ mood as confrontational. [Id. at] 114.

       [Holmes] walked the two (2) to five (5) minutes from the store to
       the sidewalk of Kevan Jackson’s home accompanied by Ms. Pena,
       and his sibling, Jermaine Jackson. [Id. at] 83-84.

       [] Holmes walked alone onto the driveway of 70 East Penn
       Boulevard and talked for ten (10) to fifteen (15) seconds with
____________________________________________

6 The Honorable James P. Bradley was the trial judge in this matter. When
Judge Bradley retired on December 31, 2021, the matter was administratively
reassigned to the Honorable Linda A. Cartisano and, ultimately, to Judge Kelly,
who authored a thorough and comprehensive Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion.

                                           -2-
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     Kevan Jackson. [Id. at] 20[,] 25. Tensions rose, then a fight.
     [Id. at] 25 and [Id.,] 11/17/21, [at] 86. [] Holmes grappled with
     Kevan Jackson and [the Victim], while Jahlil Jackson, another
     brother of the victim, took on Jermaine Jackson. [Id.,] 11/16/21,
     [at] 117. Pugilism held the stage for sixty (60) to ninety (90)
     seconds[,] [resulting in] Jermaine Jackson [falling] to the ground.
     [Id. at] 91 and [Id.,] 11/17/21, [at] 27. As he righted himself,
     Jermaine Jackson, according to [the victim,] “tells his brother[,
     Holmes,] to shoot me, shoot me—or shoot him, shoot him, and
     he pulls out a gun to shoot me.” [Id.,] 11/17/21, [at] 27. Ms.
     Pena, describing the same command, testified that Jermaine
     Jackson said to his brother, [Holmes], “pop them, pop them.”
     [Id.,] 11/16/21, [at] 94. [] Holmes then took a sock from the
     waist of his pants, removed a silver firearm from the sock, and
     shot once at the victim [] from just fifteen (15) feet away. [Id.
     at] 118, 47-48 and [Id.,] 11/17/21, [at] 20.            “Everybody
     scattered.” [Id.,] 11/16/21, [at] 148.

     [Holmes] ran toward Pembroke Street then disappeared from the
     view of Ms. Pena and Jermaine Jackson, who had trailed him. Ms.
     Pena and Jermaine Jackson continued to walk together on
     Pembroke[,] holding hands to evade suspicion[,] and visited
     Jermaine Jackson’s friend’s house on Melrose Street. [Id. at] 100,
     122.

     At some point later that day, [] Holmes engaged a car service for
     passage to his mother’s house in North Philadelphia, where Ms.
     Pena joined him that evening.         [Id. at] 122.   On direct
     examination, Ms. Pena said they did not talk about the shooting
     until the next day when she asked [Holmes] about the “fallout”
     and he said everything will be fine. [Id. at] 101-02.

     Detective [James] Cadden [of the East Lansdowne Police
     Department] recorded a statement from [the victim] in the
     hospital the same day as the shooting (August 18, 2018) and
     returned on August 21, 2018[,] with two (2) photo arrays from
     which [the victim] identified [] Holmes and Jermaine Jackson as
     having been involved in his shooting. [Id.,] 11/17/21, [at] 72-
     76.

     On August 21, 2018, the detective’s application for a search
     warrant was judicially approved for 16 Melrose Avenue, Apartment
     B, East Lansdowne, where [Holmes] and Jermaine Jackson were
     lessees; and where[,] with arrest warrants for the three (3),

                                    -3-
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      Detective Cadden found [] Holmes, Jermaine Jackson and
      Angelica Pena on August 23, 2018. [Id. at] 76-77, 83-87.

      Ms. Pena gave two (2) custodial statements, both recorded after
      her   rights   against   self-incrimination    were  imparted,
      acknowledged, and waived, on August 23, 2018[—]one at 7:40
      hours and the second at 14:28 hours, military time.

      On February 17, 2021, Ms. Pena, then represented by counsel and
      at liberty, gave a third statement. [Id. at] 88-90.

      Detective Cadden became privy to recordings of three (3) phone
      calls that [] Holmes was said to be party to while incarcerated and
      awaiting trial. Those calls seemingly occurred between November
      4, 2021 and November 9, 2021. The first[,] identified as from a
      November 4, 2021, call to telephone number (215) 980-1764[,]
      contained a person uttering the phrase “three times and out.”
      Detective Cadden, without objection, identified the declarant as []
      Holmes and then interpreted the reference to mean that[,] if a
      witness fails to appear in criminal court three (3) times[,] the case
      will be thrown out. [Id. at] 99-103. The second tape was made
      from a phone call to (267) 281-0872 on November 5, 2021, with
      the detective again authenticating the voice of [Holmes]. [Id. at]
      103. The third audio recording was offered as originating from a
      November 9, 2021, call to (267) 281-0872[,] in which Detective
      Cadden recognized [] Holmes voicing the name “Jermaine.”
      Detective Cadden testified that [Holmes] was referring to his
      sibling, Jermaine Jackson. [Id. at] 105.

Trial Court Opinion, at 14-17 (footnotes omitted).

      A trial was held on November 16 through 18, 2021, after which the jury

and trial court convicted Holmes of the above-stated offenses. On January 7,

2022, Judge Bradley sentenced Holmes to 10 to 20 years’ incarceration for

aggravated assault graded as a felony of the first degree, and consecutive

terms of 2½ to 5 years’ incarceration for one count of criminal conspiracy and

15 to 30 months’ incarceration for carrying a firearm without a license. The

court also sentenced Holmes to five years’ probation for possession of a

                                      -4-
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firearm prohibited.     The remainder of Holmes’ convictions merged for

purposes of sentencing.

      Holmes filed a motion for reconsideration of sentence, which Judge

Bradley denied. Holmes filed a timely notice of appeal, followed by a court-

ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors complained of on

appeal. Holmes raises the following claims for our review:

      1. Whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of [Holmes’]
      prison telephone calls, since the three recorded conversations are
      irrelevant, did not include admissions or demonstrate
      consciousness of guilt, and any probative value was outweighed
      by the danger of unfair prejudice[.]

      2. Whether the court below erred and violated the discretionary
      aspects of sentencing when it imposed a statutory maximum
      penalty on aggravated assault with consecutive sentences for
      conspiracy and two firearms offenses, since the overall penalty is
      harsh and excessive under the circumstances, especially where
      the court never placed adequate or proper reasons on the record,
      did not provide sufficient contemporaneous written justification
      for its upward guideline departure, and failed to properly account
      for individualized factors[.]

Brief of Appellant, at 5.

      Holmes first claims that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting

into evidence three recorded prison telephone calls between Holmes and third

parties. Holmes claims the recordings are irrelevant, as they did not include

any admissions or demonstrate consciousness of guilt.           Rather, Holmes

argues,   “[a]ny   reasonable   person   facing   criminal   prosecution    would

experience similar curiosity and apprehension regarding the court processes—

including questions about repeated preliminary hearing postponements and

                                      -5-
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how a co-defendant’s potential plea deal might impact them.”            Brief of

Appellant, at 15.        Even assuming, arguendo, that the recordings were

relevant, Holmes asserts their probative value was outweighed by the danger

of unfair prejudice, as the conversations revealed that Holmes was

incarcerated and the trial court failed to issue a cautionary instruction to

“clarify that [] Holmes was confined only due to this case [] or direct the jury

to disregard his incarcerated status.” Id. at 17. In addition, Holmes argues

that the recordings “included inadmissible details about his brother’s potential

plea agreement” and “the prosecution improperly implied that the co-

defendant’s acceptance of responsibility would be incriminating.” Id. Finally,

Holmes asserts that the trial court’s error in admitting the recordings was not

harmless, as there is “a reasonable possibility it could have contributed to the

jury’s decision to convict.” Id. at 18.

       In response, the Commonwealth asserts that Holmes waived any

challenge to the relevancy of the recordings by failing to raise the issue in the

trial court. The Commonwealth points out that, prior to trial, Holmes objected

to the recordings on the basis that they were more prejudicial than probative.

See Brief of Appellee, at 9, citing N.T. Trial, 11/16/21, at 8.7 During trial,

____________________________________________

7   Defense counsel raised the issue as follows:

       And the third issue, Your Honor, is I was noticed by Mr.
       Krouse last week that he intends to introduce portions of
       three separate telephone calls made by my client while
       incarcerated at the Delaware County Prison. I received
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

                                           -6-
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Holmes objected only to the accuracy of the phone call transcripts. See Brief

of Appellee, at 8, citing N.T. Trial, 11/17/21, at 100. Thus, “to the extent that

[Holmes] challenges the relevancy of the recordings for the first time, his claim

is waived.” Brief of Appellee, at 10, citing Commonwealth v. Hernandez,

230 A.3d 480, 489 n.7 (Pa. Super. 2020) (finding appellate challenge to

relevancy waived where objection at trial limited to assertion that prejudicial

effect of evidence outweighed probative value).             In any event, the

Commonwealth asserts that the recordings were relevant because Holmes’

“apparent belief that his freedom depended on the victim not appearing to

testify suggests consciousness of guilt,” because “an innocent person would

not believe they will only be released if their accuser fails to appear.” Brief of

Appellee, at 11.     In addition, “[h]is determination to interfere with his co-

conspirator’s plea, and his apparent concern that his co-conspirator’s plea

would make him appear guilty, also suggests consciousness of guilt.” Id. at

12.

       With respect to Holmes’ argument that the recordings were unfairly

prejudicial because they revealed he was incarcerated, the Commonwealth

asserts that “the jury had no reason to think that [Holmes] was incarcerated

____________________________________________

       yesterday afternoon a transcript of those three calls, and
       my argument would be, Your Honor, that those calls are
       more prejudicial than probative, and I’m going to ask that
       he not be allowed to introduce those—or portions of those
       three telephone calls.

N.T. Trial, 11/16/21, at 8.

                                           -7-
J-S10022-23

for anything but this case.” Id. Given the jury’s awareness that Holmes had

been arrested in 2018, and that the recordings were made less than two weeks

before trial, the jury was likely to infer that Holmes was in jail awaiting the

instant trial, rather than for “‘unrelated malfeasance, of which no evidence

was proffered.’” Id. at 13, quoting Trial Court Opinion, 10/5/22, at 41.

      Finally, the Commonwealth contends that any prejudicial effect of the

recordings was de minimis compared to the overwhelming evidence of Holmes’

guilt, including the eyewitness testimony of both the victim and Holmes’

girlfriend identifying Holmes as the shooter. Thus, any hypothetical error in

the admission of the recordings was harmless.

      We agree with the trial court and the Commonwealth that Holmes has

waived his challenge to the recordings’ relevance. In order to preserve a claim

for appellate review, a defendant must make an objection in the trial court “at

the appropriate stage of the proceedings.” Commonwealth v. Russell, 209

A.3d 419, 429 (Pa. Super. 2019).       “If counsel states the grounds for an

objection, then all other unspecified grounds are waived and cannot be raised

for the first time on appeal.” Commonwealth v. McGriff, 160 A.3d 863, 871

(Pa. Super. 2017).   As noted above, prior to trial, Holmes objected to the

admission of the recordings only on the basis that their potential for prejudice

outweighed their probative value.     Accordingly, his appellate challenge to

relevancy is waived. See Hernandez, supra.

      We likewise agree with the trial court and Commonwealth that the

probative value of the recordings outweighed the risk of undue prejudice.

                                     -8-
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      In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on the admissibility of evidence,
      our standard of review is one of deference. Commonwealth v.
      Selenski, 18 A.3d 1229, 1232 (Pa. Super. 2011). Questions
      concerning the admissibility of evidence are within “the sound
      discretion of the trial court, and its discretion will not be reversed
      absent a clear abuse of discretion.” Id. (citation omitted). “An
      abuse of discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but is
      rather the overriding or misapplication of the law, or the exercise
      of judgment that is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of bias,
      prejudice, ill-will[,] or partiality, as shown by the evidence of
      record.” Commonwealth v. Harris, 884 A.2d 920, 924 (Pa.
      Super. 2005) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)[.]
      Furthermore, “if in reaching a conclusion the trial court [overrides]
      or misapplies the law, discretion is then abused and it is the duty
      of the appellate court to correct the error.” Commonwealth v.
      Weakley, 972 A.2d 1182, 1188 (Pa. Super. 2009) (citation
      omitted)[.]

Commonwealth v. Thompson, 106 A.3d 742, 754 (Pa. Super. 2014).

      Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any

fact that is of consequence more or less probable than it would be without the

evidence and the fact is of consequence in determining the action.             See

Pa.R.E. 401. Generally, all relevant evidence is admissible. However, relevant

evidence may be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by the danger

of unfair prejudice. See Pa.R.E. 403. For this purpose, “[p]rejudice does not

mean detrimental to a party’s case, but rather, an undue tendency to suggest

a decision on an improper basis.” Pittsburgh Const. Co. v. Griffith, 834

A.2d 572, 585 (Pa. Super. 2003) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

      As a general rule, the prosecution may not reference a defendant’s

confinement, particularly in circumstances where doing so could signify prior

criminal conduct. See Commonwealth v. Clark, 309 A.2d 589, 591 (Pa.

                                      -9-
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1973); see also Pa.R.E. 404 (evidence of prior bad acts generally

inadmissible). In support of his claim that the recordings of jailhouse phone

conversations impermissibly alerted the jury to his confinement, Holmes relies

upon Commonwealth v. Padilla, 923 A.2d 1189 (Pa. Super. 2007). There,

the trial court granted defendant’s motion in limine to exclude references to

his prior record. At trial, a police officer replied to an open-ended question

about what he found when he arrived at the scene of the crime as follows:

       When I got there I found—I was met at the door by the mother[,]
       who was very upset, yelling and carrying on, practically mad at
       me, but she started to tell me how everybody was downstairs.
       She went and picked up this guy [(Padilla)]. He’s a family friend.
       Apparently[,] he just got out of jail, and so she was doing him
       a favor.

Id. at 1192 (emphasis in original). The defendant moved for a mistrial, which

the trial court initially agreed to, but subsequently denied. The trial court did,

however, agree to provide the jury with a cautionary instruction.8 On appeal,

this Court granted Padilla a new trial, finding that:

       Based on our review of the trial transcript, we find the
       circumstances surrounding the court’s ruling to be troubling and
       the instruction itself too vague to have cured the prejudice. The
       trial court had granted Appellant’s motion in limine and, upon
       violation of its order, agreed to a mistrial. Pressed by the
       prosecutor, however, the trial court instead opted to give a
       cautionary instruction and await further argument. The record
       suggests that the jury may have heard the side bar conference
       during which the trial court reversed itself. Moreover, the trial
       court’s instruction did not specifically direct the jury to disregard

____________________________________________

8 Here, there is nothing in the record indicating that Holmes requested a
cautionary instruction from the trial court, and Holmes does not argue that he
did.

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       [the officer’s] remark, “Apparently he just got out of jail.” Then,
       despite the instruction, the prosecutor resumed his examination
       of [the officer] by repeating the officer’s testimony that “Mom was
       upset,” thereby allowing the jury to hear again testimony the trial
       court had just instructed them to disregard.

Id. at 1196 (citations to record omitted).

       The facts of Padilla are distinguishable from those of the case sub judice

in that, there, the necessary implication of the officer’s statement—made in

direct violation of a pretrial order9—was that the defendant had committed

prior offenses for which he was, until just prior to the date of the new offense,

in prison. Here, there is nothing in the record that could have suggested to

the jury that Holmes was incarcerated for any reason other than the charges

in this matter. As the trial court astutely noted:

       Detective Cadden testified that on August 23, 2018, he served a
       search warrant at . . . the home of [] Holmes and his brother,
       Jermaine Jackson, and that arrest warrants were [also] served.
       The jury had heard that the persons named in the arrest warrants
       were in the home. The record indicates that the jury knew the
       shooting occurred on August 18, 2018, and that they became
       privy to [] Holmes’ detention on August 23, 2018, and probably
       connected the dots. The record reflects a similar temporal
       arrangement between the dates of the prison calls and of
       [Holmes’] trial. Because the prison phone calls were engaged in
       by [Holmes] between November 4, 2021 and November 9, 2021,
       and his trial unfolded from November 16, 2021, to November 18,
       2021, the jury was likely to infer that [] Holmes was then jailed
       per the current case. Further, the investigating detective explicitly
       testified he had[,] prior to the above-captioned matter[,] no
       contacts with Defendant Holmes. Reason would have left the
       deliberation room, if the jury inferred that [] Holmes was in [jail]

____________________________________________

9 In its analysis, the Court noted that the existence of a pre-trial in limine
ruling distinguished the facts in Padilla from the standard “passing reference-
no prejudice” cases. See Padilla, 923 A.2d at 1195.

                                          - 11 -
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      between November 4, 2021, and November 9, 2021, for unrelated
      malfeasance, of which no evidence was proffered.

Trial Court Opinion, 10/5/22, at 41 (citations to record omitted). We agree

with the trial court’s analysis.

      Finally, even if the court erred in admitted the recordings, the error was

harmless.

      Harmless error exists where: (1) the error did not prejudice the
      defendant or the prejudice was de minimis; (2) the erroneously
      admitted evidence was merely cumulative of other untainted
      evidence which was substantially similar to the erroneously
      admitted evidence; or (3) the properly admitted and
      uncontradicted evidence of guilt was so overwhelming and the
      prejudicial effect of the error was so insignificant by comparison
      that the error could not have contributed to the verdict.

Commonwealth v. Page, 965 A.2d 1212, 1221 (Pa. Super. 2009).

      At trial, the Commonwealth presented the eyewitness testimony of the

victim and Holmes’ girlfriend, Pena, both of whom identified Holmes as the

shooter.    See N.T. Trial, 11/17/21, at 27-43 (victim describing events

surrounding shooting and identifying Holmes as shooter); id., 11/16/21, at

90-97 (Pena testifying Holmes pulled gun from waistband and fired after

brother told him to “pop them”). Thus, any prejudicial effect the recordings

may have had “was insignificant compared to the overwhelming evidence” of

Holmes’ guilt. Page, 965 A.2d at 1222.

      Finally, Holmes raises a challenge to the discretionary aspects of his

sentence. Such a claim does not entitle an appellant to review as a matter of

right. Commonwealth v. Swope, 123 A.3d 333, 337 (Pa. Super. 2015).

Rather, before this Court can address such a discretionary challenge, an

                                    - 12 -
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appellant must invoke this Court’s jurisdiction by:   (1) filing a timely notice

of appeal, see Pa.R.A.P. 902 and 903; (2) properly preserving the issue at

sentencing or in a motion to reconsider and modify sentence, see Pa.R.Crim.P.

720; (3) including in his brief a concise statement of reasons relied upon for

allowance of appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 2119(f); and (4) raising a

substantial question that the sentence appealed from is not appropriate under

the Sentencing Code. Swope, 123 A.3d at 337.

      Here, Holmes filed a post-sentence motion for reconsideration of his

sentence, followed by a timely notice of appeal to this Court. He has also

included in his brief a concise statement of reasons relied upon for allowance

of appeal pursuant to Rule 2119(f).     Accordingly, we must now determine

whether Holmes has raised a substantial question that his sentence is not

appropriate under the Sentencing Code.

      Prior to making that determination, however, we must address the

Commonwealth’s assertion that Holmes has, on appeal, deviated from the

objections he raised in his motion for reconsideration of sentence and, to the

extent he has done so, waives those claims. In his motion for reconsideration

of sentence, Holmes raised the following arguments:

      2. During sentencing, Judge Bradley indicated that [] Holmes did
      not show remorse. On the contrary, he did show remorse during
      the interview as to the preparation of the pre[-]sentence
      investigation report. In addition, he did not testify at the time of
      trial.

      3. [] Holmes feels that the sentence imposed is excessive and
      asks the court’s reconsideration of same.

                                     - 13 -
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Motion   to   Reconsider   Sentence,    1/18/22,   at   ¶¶   2-3   (unnecessary

capitalization omitted).   At the hearing on Holmes’ motion to reconsider,

counsel reiterated the argument raised in the motion:

      MR. GALLOWAY: Your Honor, Mr. Holmes was sentenced to an
      aggregate term of incarceration of 165 to 370 months, plus five
      years[’] consecutive probation. You did make a comment during
      the sentencing that occurred that Mr. Holmes did not show
      remorse and that is basically the crux or the basis for the filing of
      the motion. I would remind the Court that Mr. Holmes did not
      testify at the time of trial, and in addition, Your Honor, the pre-
      sentence investigation report did indicate that Mr. Holmes[,] when
      asked for his narrative or his statement or his comments[,] did
      indicate remorse. I believe Mr. Holmes would like to read a
      relatively brief statement to the Court if he may, Your Honor.

N.T. Motion for Reconsideration Hearing, 2/8/22, at 3-4.

      In his Rule 2119(f) statement, Holmes raises the following claims: (1)

the trial court failed to place adequate or proper reasons on the record for the

sentence imposed; (2) the trial court failed to provide a sufficient

contemporaneous written justification for its upward guideline deviation; (3)

the trial court failed to confirm whether it had considered the PSI in imposing

sentence; (4) the trial court imposed an excessive sentence; and (5) the trial

court failed to properly account for individualized factors, instead focusing

almost exclusively on the severity of the charges, and erroneously concluded

Holmes lacked remorse.      See Brief of Appellant, at 21-24 (Rule 2119(f)

statement).

      “[I]ssues not raised in the lower court are waived and cannot be raised

for the first time on appeal.” Commonwealth v. Mann, 820 A.2d 788, 794

                                     - 14 -
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(Pa. Super. 2003). See also Pa.R.A.P. 302. As such, an appellant’s failure

to raise a specific claim regarding the discretionary aspects of his sentence

before the trial court waives that issue on appeal. See Commonwealth v.

Reeves, 778 A.2d 691, 692–93 (Pa. Super. 2001) (appellant’s failure to raise

specific claim in post-sentence motion that trial court failed to state reasons

for sentence on record deprived trial court of opportunity to consider claim

and, thus, claim waived on appeal). Accordingly, the sole claims that Holmes

has preserved on appeal are those specifically raised in his motion for

reconsideration, i.e., that his sentence is excessive and that the trial court

erroneously concluded he lacked remorse.

      A substantial question requires a demonstration that “the
      sentence violates either a specific provision of the sentencing
      scheme set forth in the Sentencing Code or a particular
      fundamental norm underlying the sentencing process.”
      Commonwealth v. Tirado, 870 A.2d 362, 365 (Pa. Super.
      2005). This Court’s inquiry “must focus on the reasons for which
      the appeal is sought, in contrast to the facts underlying the
      appeal, which are necessary only to decide the appeal on the
      merits.” Id. Whether a substantial question has been raised is
      determined on a case-by-case basis; the fact that a sentence is
      within the statutory limits does not mean a substantial question
      cannot be raised. Commonwealth v. Titus, 816 A.2d 251, 255
      (Pa. Super. 2003). However, a bald assertion that a sentence is
      excessive does not by itself raise a substantial question justifying
      this Court’s review of the merits of the underlying claim. Id.

Commonwealth v. Fisher, 47 A.3d 155, 159 (Pa. Super. 2012).

      Similarly, “this Court has held on numerous occasions that a claim of

inadequate consideration of mitigating factors does not raise a substantial

question for our review.” Commonwealth v. Disalvo, 70 A.3d 900, 903 (Pa.

                                     - 15 -
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Super. 2013). Thus, Holmes’ argument that the trial court failed to consider

his remorse as a mitigating factor fails to raise a substantial question.10

       As Holmes has failed to raise a substantial question, we may not reach

the merits of this issue on appeal.

       Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 5/1/2023

____________________________________________

10 We note that, in asserting that the trial court “erroneously concluded that
[he] lacked remorse” with regard to the instant offenses, Holmes appears to
have misconstrued the court’s statement at sentencing. The court did not
state a belief that Holmes had no remorse in this case. Rather, the court
stated it had considered, inter alia, Holmes’ prior record, which the court found
“indicate[d] that [Holmes] certainly had no remorse from the first time
around on committing a serious crime[.]” N.T. Sentencing, 1/7/22, at 12
(emphasis added). Accordingly, this claim is belied by the record.

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