Court Opinion

ID: 9737170
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:18:02.415999+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:56.923846
License: Public Domain

*541ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I would uphold the conviction of the Appellant for murder of the first degree, robbery, burglary, and possession of an instrument of crime. I must dissent, however, from the majority’s conclusion that trial counsel was not ineffective in failing to present evidence of the mitigating circumstance that the Appellant did not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions. I would vacate the death penalty and remand for a new sentencing hearing pursuant to 42 Pa.C. S.A. § 9711(h)(4).
Appellant contends that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to present evidence during the penalty phase to establish the mitigating circumstance that “[t]he defendant has no significant history of prior criminal convictions.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(e)(1). The majority rejects this argument, finding that it “... is erroneously premised on the fact that his single prior conviction for robbery would not have been admissible if offered by the prosecution to rebut the evidence that Appellant did not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions.” (Majority opinion at 870). I do not agree that the Appellant’s argument is founded on a faulty premise.
The majority holds that a single prior criminal conviction is admissible to rebut the mitigating circumstance that the defendant does not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions. This conclusion is absolutely unsupportable; indeed it is directly refuted by our analysis in Commonwealth v. Goins, 508 Pa. 270, 495 A.2d 527 (1985).
In Goins, the issue presented was whether a single felony conviction for a crime of violence may suffice to establish the aggravating circumstance that “[t]he defendant has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(d)(9). We held that it may not, finding that the Legislature intentionally used the plural form “convictions” to exclude a single conviction. We stated,
* * * “Words and phrases shall be construed according to rules of grammar and according to their common and *542approved usage____”. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1903. Following this precept, it is important to note that the statute reads “a significant history of felony convictions” rather than “a history of significant felony convictions.” The pertinent rule of grammar to be followed is that that modifier should be placed, if possible, next to the word to be modified. If the legislature had intended that the seriousness of the prior felonies be the measure of the aggravating circumstance, the latter construction would have been correctly used. The use of the former construction instead clearly demonstrates the intention that it be the defendant’s “history of felony convictions which is significant.” In this context it appears that the plural form “convictions” is intentionally used to the exclusion of the singular form “conviction. ”
508 Pa. at 283, 495 A.2d at 534 (Emphasis added).
This Court’s analysis in Goins, supra, is controlling in the instant case. Although Goins involved an interpretation of the phrase “significant history of felony convictions” in the context of the aggravating circumstance set forth in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(d)(9), its reasoning compels the same conclusion in interpreting § 9711(e)(1). The phrase which appears in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(e)(1) as the mitigating circumstance is that the defendant has no “significant history of prior criminal convictions.” Again, it is clear that the Legislature intentionally used the plural form “prior criminal convictions” to the exclusion of the singular form “conviction.”
The majority attempts to distinguish the instant case from Goins, supra, by relying upon Commonwealth v. Szuchon, 506 Pa. 228, 484 A.2d 1365 (1984). Footnote 4 in Szuchon is cited as authority for the proposition that a single prior criminal conviction is admissible to rebut the mitigating circumstance that the defendant does not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions. It simply is not.
In Szuchon, the Commonwealth sought the death penalty on the theory that two aggravating circumstances existed *543which outweighed any mitigating. The aggravating circumstances included (1) the defendant committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(d)(6), and (2) in the commission of the offense the defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim of the offense, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(d)(7). The Commonwealth did not introduce any evidence to establish that the defendant had a significant history of felony convictions within 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(d)(9).
In Szuchon, it was the defendant himself who introduced his prior plea of guilty to a charge of robbery as evidence of the mitigating circumstance that he had no significant history of prior criminal convictions. The defendant also argued the existence of three other mitigating circumstances: (1) he was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; (2) his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired; and (3) the influence of drugs and alcohol upon his behavior. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(e)(2), (3), and (8), respectively. The jury returned a verdict of death, finding that the aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances.
In footnote 4 of the Szuchon opinion, the Court stated: It was placed on the record that appellant entered a plea of guilty to a charge of robbery in 1974. The court, correctly, left it to the jury to determine whether or not this constituted a “significant history of prior criminal convictions.”
This footnote followed the recitation of the list of mitigating circumstances that the defendant had argued for before the jury. Very clearly, then, the footnote refers to the fact that the trial court permitted the jury to consider the defendant’s record of a single prior criminal conviction as evidence of the mitigating circumstance that the defendant had no significant history of prior criminal convictions.
The question of whether a single prior criminal conviction is admissible to rebut the mitigating circumstance that the *544defendant does not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions was never an issue in Szuchon. It was the defendant, and not the Commonwealth, who introduced the evidence of the prior conviction. The evidence was introduced not to rebut the mitigating circumstance, but to prove it.
It is anomalous, therefore, that the majority relies upon footnote 4 in Szuchon to establish its conclusion in the instant case that a single prior conviction is admissible to rebut the mitigating circumstance. Even if one’s imagination could stretch the language of footnote 4 to suggest such a result, this Court’s subsequent decision in Goins, supra, removes all doubt that a single prior conviction will not suffice to rebut the mitigating circumstance that speaks in terms of “prior criminal convictions.”
The majority author’s own dissenting opinion in Goins acknowledges that footnote 4 of Szuchon (also written by the majority author) is dictum and of no precedential value:
The majority’s interpretation of subsection (d)(9) would also seem to conflict with this Court’s recent decision in Commonwealth v. Szuchon, 506 Pa. 228, 484 A.2d 1365 (1984). In that case, a majority of this Court stated (albeit in dictum) that it was proper for the lower court to leave it to the jury to determine whether or not a defendant with a single prior conviction for robbery could be considered to have “no significant history of prior criminal convictions” under subsection (e)(1).
508 Pa. at 290, 495 A.2d at 537, footnote 3 (Larsen, J. dissenting). To the extent that Szuchon might have been interpreted as the majority does so today, such an interpretation was clearly rejected by our analysis in Goins. The majority’s interpretation is nothing more than an attempt to overrule Goins.
Since the publication of the Goins opinion, the Legislature has amended the death penalty statute. Conspicuously absent from the amendments are any changes in the language of the aggravating circumstance of § 9711(d)(9), which Goins specifically addressed, or the mitigating cir*545cumstance of § 9711(e)(1).1 Under the principles of statutory construction, "... when a court of last resort has construed the language used in a statute, the General Assembly in subsequent statutes on the same subject matter intends the same construction to be placed upon such language.” 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1922(4).
Because the majority erroneously concludes that the Appellant’s single prior conviction would have been admissible if offered by the prosecution to rebut the evidence that the Appellant did not have a significant history of prior criminal convictions, the claim of ineffectiveness of trial counsel has merit. The majority finds that trial counsel’s decision not to present evidence of this mitigating circumstance was one reasonably designed to effectuate his client’s interest. The majority relies upon the prosecutor’s and defense counsel’s inchambers discussion with the trial judge prior to the penalty phase to support its conclusion.
The majority reasons that if defense counsel had introduced evidence to prove that mitigating circumstance, he would have opened the door for the introduction of Appellant’s prior conviction. I have stated at length the reason why that conclusion is erroneous under the language of the statute and our holding in Goins, supra. It is erroneous as well because the record demonstrates that defense counsel’s purpose in arguing against the Commonwealth’s use of that conviction during the inchambers discussion was different than that suggested by the majority’s opinion.
During the in-chambers discussion, the trial judge requested that counsel for both sides discuss their respective positions on the admissibility of evidence during the penalty phase. Defense counsel indicated that he intended to present one witness to testify about the Appellant’s activities in the community for a period of two years — from 1982 to 1984. Those activities included the Appellant’s participation in a community dance and drama group and his involvement in dance, theatre, and guitar lessons for chil*546dren in the community. Defense counsel indicated that the testimony would be offered as “[a]ny other evidence of mitigation concerning the character and record of the defendant and the circumstances of his offense.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(e)(8).
Defense counsel stated that he did not intend the evidence to reflect on his client’s reputation in the community for non-violence or honesty. For that reason, he objected to any use of the prior criminal conviction by the Commonwealth to rebut the mitigating circumstance of § 9711(e)(8). N.T. at 842. The focus of defense counsel’s objection was entirely different from the purpose stated in the majority’s opinion.
The prosecutor argued that the evidence would be admissible to rebut the mitigating circumstance of § 9711(e)(8) and that it would be admissible to show the Appellant was not community oriented. The trial judge ruled that the evidence would not be admissible for that purpose, stating:
THE COURT: I will rule that the Commonwealth may not cross-examine or prove the defendant’s prior conviction. I will caution you, Mr. Stein, that I expect the witness to testify as you have said and the defendant’s actions in a period from 1982 to 1984 in this acting group or with regard to what he did with musical lessons provided free of charge and his actions that he had taken with regard to his son in providing financial support and taking an interest in the child doesn’t in my judgment allow the Commonwealth to introduce that prior conviction. However, if this witness on direct examination volunteers that he has never been in any trouble or has always been a model, law abiding citizen or does anything that I think unfairly portrays the defendant in a light that would allow this conviction, then I may consider that the door has been opened. I also would tell counsel that while obviously Mr. McMahon understands if I don’t allow it into evidence, he can’t argue on it, nor can you *547argue that the defendant has never been in trouble before or has a spotless record before this.
N.T. pp. 850-851.
Having been successful in securing a ruling from the trial court that the prior conviction could not be used to rebut the evidence of the mitigating circumstance of § 9711(e)(8), defense counsel’s failure to argue for the mitigating circumstance that the Appellant had no significant history of prior criminal convictions was not a reasonable trial strategy. I would find that defense counsel was ineffective for that reason and note that the prejudice to the Appellant in this death penalty case is self-evident.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Flaherty attempts to distinguish this case from Goins, stating “... there is quite a difference between the Commonwealth asserting a statutorily defined aggravating circumstance and its ability to rebut the obvious inference created by the mitigating circumstance in question.” Such a distinction might be a valid one in a case in which evidence of the defendant’s character is introduced to establish his reputation in the community for non-violence or honesty, but that was not the evidence that was introduced in this case. Therefore, Justice Flaherty’s reliance upon that distinction is unsupported by the record.
During the penalty phase, the only evidence of mitigating circumstances introduced by defense counsel was the testimony of Stacy Williams, the Appellant’s former girlfriend. N.T. pp. 858-869. Miss Williams testified that she had met the Appellant in the summer of 1982 while working at a Philadelphia YWCA. The YWCA had formed a theatre company for teenagers in the area and had provided jobs to area teenagers by creating internships for dance, drama, and theater. The Appellant had been placed as a YWCA intern as part of a city project to develop summer jobs for teens.
As part of that program, the Appellant attended dance and drama classes. He was later given a teaching position in those subjects. He continued to participate in theatrical *548productions after the funding for the program was gone. The theater group subsequently moved to a community center under an arrangement to exchange lessons to community children for space. The Appellant was one of the teachers until the group disbanded in 1984.
Miss Williams testified that he was a very good teacher and that the children liked him. During the time they were involved in the theater group, Miss Williams and the Appellant became personally involved. They have a son, who was four years old at the time of the hearing.
Miss Williams testified that the Appellant had contact with his son, that he had made- support payments voluntarily, and that she thought he was a very good father. She testified that the Appellant was 24 years old. Defense counsel introduced two pictures of the Appellant with his son as exhibits. That was the extent of the direct examination. The prosecutor’s cross-examination of the witness was short and insignificant. a No other evidence of mitigating circumstances was introduced.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Flaherty states that “The defendant, by electing to submit such a mitigating circumstance is in effect making his character an issue and must expect the rebuttal which normally follows.” If any of the members of the majority can see in that testimony a basis for introducing evidence of a single prior conviction as rebuttal evidence, then all of our law relating to the scope of cross-examination and relevance and materiality of testimony has been abandoned in death penalty cases. The clear import of the Appellant’s evidence of mitigating circumstances was not to create an image of sterling character, but,. simply, to suggest to the jury that the Appellant had demonstrated some positive qualities in his life that should be considered when determining whether the Appellant would be sentenced to die.
I dissent.
NIX, C.J., joins in this opinion.

. The Legislature did amend the provision of the death penalty statute relating to aggravating circumstances by adding other circumstances.