Court Opinion

ID: 9407866
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-10 17:09:16.604449+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:40.527782
License: Public Domain

J-S44002-22

    NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                  :      IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                                  :           PENNSYLVANIA
                                                  :
                v.                                :
                                                  :
                                                  :
    ANTONIO JOSEPH WALDO                          :
                                                  :
                       Appellant                  :      No. 950 MDA 2022

         Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 13, 2022
               In the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County
             Criminal Division at No(s): CP-22-CR-0004651-2020

BEFORE:      PANELLA, P.J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PANELLA, P.J.:                      FILED: JULY 10, 2023

        Antonio Joseph Waldo appeals from the judgment of sentence following

his guilty plea to two counts each of rape and sexual assault, and one count

each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and simple assault. Waldo

argues that the expert improperly relied upon inadmissible hearsay in

rendering his opinion that he was a sexually violent predator (“SVP”) and that

the evidence was insufficient to support the SVP determination. We affirm.

        On   August    26,   2020,     the     victim,    Dianne   DeMarco,   who   was

approximately 66 years old, lived in a rooming house in Harrisburg. On that

date, she heard a knock on her door, and believing it to be a friend, opened

the door. Waldo walked in and began eating DeMarco’s food. Thereafter,

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*   Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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Waldo punched DeMarco several times in the face. He then engaged in forcible

sexual intercourse with DeMarco. DeMarco reported the assault to the police,

who later located Waldo. Waldo admitted that he had assaulted DeMarco on

August 26, 2020, and further stated that he had previously assaulted her on

two occasions.

      The police arrested Waldo, and the Commonwealth charged him with

two counts each of rape and sexual assault, and one count each of involuntary

deviate sexual intercourse and simple assault. Waldo agreed to enter a guilty

plea to the offenses in exchange for an aggregate sentence of 15 to 30 years

in prison plus an undefined term of probation. The trial court accepted Waldo’s

plea, deferred sentencing, and ordered Waldo to undergo an SVP assessment.

      On June 13, 2022, the trial court conducted an SVP hearing, at which

Dr. Robert Stein of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board

(“SOAB”) testified. Prior to Dr. Stein’s testimony, Waldo’s counsel objected to

hearsay statements relied upon by Dr. Stein in forming his expert opinion.

Specifically, Waldo’s counsel pointed out that Waldo’s prior criminal history,

Waldo’s conduct on parole, and other information was based on inadmissible

hearsay. The trial court denied the objection.

      Dr. Stein testified that in completing his assessment, he reviewed, inter

alia, the court order for the assessment; response from defense counsel;

report from the board investigator; criminal information; complaint; affidavit

of probable cause; police reports; Children & Youth records; Waldo’s prior

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criminal history, including sexual assaults of a 14-year-old girl and 3-year-old

boy and a violent offense against his son; records from Dauphin County

probation and Pennsylvania State Parole; treatment records; records from

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; and a prior SOAB parole-requested

assessment and investigation. Dr. Stein further testified that he reviewed

fifteen different criteria and ultimately determined that Waldo should be

classified as an SVP. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found

Waldo to be an SVP. Thereafter, the trial court sentenced Waldo to 15 to 30

years in prison, followed by 5 years of probation. Waldo timely appealed.

      On appeal, Waldo raises the following questions for our review:

      1. Whether the SVP court erred in admitting Dr. Stein’s expert
         report when inadmissible hearsay was impermissibly mixed
         with admissible testimony?

      2. Did the SVP court err in determining [] Waldo a Sexually Violent
         Predator, when the Commonwealth’s expert’s opinion relied
         upon evidence not in the record?

Appellant’s Brief at 6.

      In his first claim, Waldo contends that Dr. Stein improperly relied on

inadmissible hearsay in finding him to be an SVP. See id. at 16, 22, 25, 28.

Specifically, Waldo asserts that Dr. Stein relied upon evidence which was not

proven or substantiated through sworn testimony or admitted into evidence.

See id. at 16, 20-21, 25-27, 28; see also id. at 21 (noting that Dr. Stein

relied upon records in which he was not the interviewer or drafter of the

records, including CYS records, probation and parole records, police

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investigation reports, treatment records, and Department of Corrections

records). Waldo further argues that Dr. Stein highlighted information that was

not part of the factual summary in the guilty plea, including testimony that

Waldo masturbated the victim and ejaculated on her; he committed a violent

offense against his son; and he assaulted a 14-year-old girl. See id. at 21,

25-26.

        Waldo    claims    that    the    instant   case   compares   favorably   to

Commonwealth v. McClelland, 233 A.3d 717, 736 (Pa. 2020) (holding that

hearsay evidence alone was insufficient to make out a prima facie case at a

preliminary hearing). See Brief for Appellant at 22-23. According to Waldo,

similar due process protections must apply to SVP hearings, emphasizing that

an SVP determination requires clear and convincing evidence while the

Commonwealth has a lower standard to establish a prima facie case at a

preliminary hearing. See id. at 25. Waldo further contends that the trial

court’s reliance on Pa.R.E. 7031 to admit Dr. Stein’s report is misplaced,

because an expert’s use of hearsay to carry the burden of proof would make

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1   Rule 703 states the following:

        An expert may base an opinion on facts or data in the case that
        the expert has been made aware of or personally observed. If
        experts in the particular field would reasonably rely on those kinds
        of facts or data in forming an opinion on the subject, they need
        not be admissible for the opinion to be admitted.

Pa.R.E. 703.

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the clear and convincing evidentiary burdening meaningless. See id. at 27-

28. Waldo thus concludes that because it is impossible to sever the hearsay-

based portion of Dr. Stein’s expert opinion, the trial court abused its discretion

in admitting the report. See id. at 28.

       “A defendant … may … raise a challenge to the admissibility of evidence

adduced by the Commonwealth at an SVP hearing; an appellate court may

ultimately find such a challenge to be meritorious and that the defendant is

entitled to a new SVP hearing.” Commonwealth v. Baker, 24 A.3d 1006,

1034 (Pa. Super. 2011) (citation omitted). “As a general rule, this Court’s

standard of review of a trial court’s evidentiary ruling … is limited to

determining whether the trial court abused its discretion.” Commonwealth

v. Dengler, 890 A.2d 372, 379 (Pa. 2005) (citation omitted). “An abuse of

discretion may not be found merely because an appellate court might have

reached     a   different   conclusion,        but   requires   a   result   of   manifest

unreasonableness, or partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will, or such lack of

support so as to be clearly erroneous.” Id. (citation omitted).

       The procedure for determining SVP status is statutorily mandated
       and well-defined. Under revised Subchapter H of SORNA,[2] after
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2 The Legislature has amended SORNA several times. Relevantly, through Act
10, as amended by Act 29 (“SORNA II”), the Legislature divided sex offenders
into two subchapters: Subchapter H, which applies to an offender who
committed a sexually violent offense on or after December 20, 2012, see 42
Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9799.10-9799.42; and Subchapter I, which applies to an
individual who committed a sexually violent offense on or after April 22, 1996,
but before December 20, 2012, and whose period of registration or
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

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       a person has been convicted of an offense listed in [42 Pa.C.S.A.
       §] 9799.14, the trial court orders an assessment by the SOAB.
       The SOAB must assess all individuals convicted of sexually violent
       offenses to determine whether they should be classified as an SVP.
       When assessing whether a particular offender should be classified
       as an SVP, the board shall establish standards for evaluations and
       for evaluators conducting the assessments.

Commonwealth v. Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, *4 (Pa. Super. 2023) (en

banc) (citations, quotation marks, and footnote omitted).

       When conducting SVP assessments,

       All State, county and local agencies, offices and entities in this
       Commonwealth, including juvenile probation officers, shall
       cooperate by providing copies of records and information as
       requested by the board in connection with the court-ordered
       assessment and the assessment requested by the Pennsylvania
       Parole Board or the assessment of a delinquent child under section
       6358 (relating to assessment of delinquent children by the State
       Sexual Offenders Assessment Board).

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.24(c).

       An assessment shall include, but not be limited to, an examination of

the following:

       (1)    Facts of the current offense, including:

              (i)     Whether the offense involved multiple victims.
              (ii)    Whether the individual exceeded the means necessary
                      to achieve the offense.
              (iii)   The nature of the sexual contact with the victim.
              (iv)    Relationship of the individual to the victim.
              (v)     Age of the victim.

____________________________________________

registration requirements under a former sexual offender registration law
have not expired, see 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9799.51-9799.75. Here, Subchapter H
applies to Waldo.

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            (vi)  Whether the offense included a display of unusual
                  cruelty by the individual during the commission of the
                  crime.
            (vii) The mental capacity of the victim.

      (2)   Prior offense history, including:

            (i)     The individual’s prior criminal record.
            (ii)    Whether the individual completed any prior
                    sentences.
            (iii)   Whether the individual participated in available
                    programs for sexual offenders.

      (3)   Characteristics of the individual, including:

            (i)    Age of the individual.
            (ii)   Use of illegal drugs by the individual.
            (iii)  A mental illness, mental disability or mental
                   abnormality.
            (iv) Behavioral characteristics that contribute to the
            individual’s conduct.

      (4)   Factors that are supported in a sexual offender assessment
            field as criteria reasonably related to the risk of reoffense.

Id. § 9799.24(b)(1)-(4).

      Further, “[an] SOAB expert opinion falls within the general rules

regarding expert witnesses.” Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, *5; see also

Pa.R.E. 702 (“Testimony by Expert Witnesses”); Pa.R.E. 703 (“Bases of an

Expert’s Opinion Testimony”). “If the expert states an opinion the expert must

state the facts or data on which the opinion is based.” Pa.R.E. 705.

      The statute governing the SVP assessment does not limit the
      expert’s consideration of information only to that admitted at trial
      or at the guilty plea proceedings. In fact, the statute requires
      state, county, and local agencies, offices or entities to provide
      copies of records and information as requested by the SOAB in
      connection with an SVP assessment, without limitation on the
      “admissibility” of that information. As a result, it stands to reason

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      that some if not many of the facts necessary to perform the SVP
      assessment might not have been proven beyond a reasonable
      doubt. Thus, we hold an SOAB expert opinion falls within the
      general rules regarding expert witnesses. As such, a SOAB
      expert’s opinion may be based on facts or data that the expert has
      been made aware of or personally observed so long as experts in
      the particular field reasonably rely on those kinds of facts or data
      in forming an opinion on the subject; the facts or data consulted
      need not be admissible for the expert’s opinion to be admitted.
      The SOAB expert must state the facts or data on which the opinion
      is based. Then, the rules of evidence place the full burden of
      exploration of facts and assumptions underlying the testimony of
      an expert witness squarely on the shoulders of opposing counsel’s
      cross-examination. Opposing counsel bears the burden of
      exposing and exploring any weaknesses in the underpinnings of
      the expert’s opinion.

Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, at *7 (citations and ellipses omitted).

      Additionally,

      it is clear that the [L]egislature intended that the SOAB member
      consider more than the limited facts included in a plea colloquy,
      and that the SOAB member undertake to review and consider the
      information contained in records provided by state, county and
      local agencies, offices and entities in this Commonwealth when
      making an SVP assessment and preparing a statutorily compliant
      written report. To be sure, it would be the rare occasion on which
      the SOAB member would be able to fulfill its statutory obligations
      if its SVP assessments and written reports were limited to facts
      contained in a plea colloquy, admitted into evidence, or
      determined by the trier of fact.

            Moreover, in the context of an SVP hearing, the judge is not
      tasked with evaluating the veracity of the facts underlying the
      expert’s testimony. Indeed, the facts presented at an SVP hearing
      are not being offered for the truth of the matter asserted, as would
      be the case in a true hearsay scenario. Instead, they constitute
      information, gleaned from records which are reasonably relied on
      in SOAB evaluations, that is presented to the trial court solely to
      supply the basis for the expert’s opinion in accordance with our
      Rules of Evidence.

Id. at *8 (citations and footnote omitted).

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      Based upon this Court’s decision in Aumick, the facts or data the expert

used in rendering his SVP assessment need not be admissible for the expert’s

opinion to be admitted. Here, Dr. Stein utilized evidence commonly used by

experts in making an SVP determination. See Trial Court Opinion, 8/30/22, at

5; see also Pa.R.E. 703; Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, at *7. Therefore, Dr.

Stein was permitted to discuss and consider otherwise inadmissible evidence

in rendering his opinion for the SVP designation. See Aumick, 2023 WL

3939850, at *8 (holding that an expert conducting an SVP assessment is not

limited to consider information only admitted at trial or at the guilty plea

proceedings). Importantly, Waldo had the opportunity to defend himself

against Dr. Stein’s opinion by presenting his own defense expert at the SVP

hearing, which he chose not to do, and by cross-examining Dr. Stein. See id.

at *9; see also In re D.Y., 34 A.3d 177, 183 (Pa. Super. 2011) (“Once expert

testimony has been admitted, the rules of evidence then place the full burden

of exploration of facts and assumptions underlying the testimony of an expert

witness squarely on the shoulders of opposing counsel's cross-examination.”

(citation omitted)). Finally, the Aumick Court rejected extending the

reasoning in McClelland to an SVP hearing, noting that “an SVP assessment

is not a trial or a separate criminal proceeding that subjects the defendant to

additional punishment.” Id. at *8 n.13. Accordingly, Waldo’s first claim is

without merit.

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      In his second claim, Waldo contends that the evidence was insufficient

for the trial court to make its SVP determination. See Appellant’s Brief at 29.

Waldo again argues that Dr. Stein’s opinion was tainted by his reliance upon

hearsay evidence. See id. at 29, 31-32. Waldo asserts that because Dr. Stein

was the sole witness at the SVP hearing, and his testimony was tainted by

inadmissible hearsay evidence, the evidence was insufficient to support a

finding that he is an SVP. See id. at 32.

      Our standard and scope of review of a challenge to the sufficiency of the

evidence relating to a trial court’s SVP designation is as follows:

      In order to affirm an SVP designation, we, as a reviewing court,
      must be able to conclude that the fact-finder found clear and
      convincing evidence that the individual is an SVP. As with any
      sufficiency of the evidence claim, we view all evidence and
      reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the
      Commonwealth. We will reverse a trial court’s determination of
      SVP status only if the Commonwealth has not presented clear and
      convincing evidence that each element of the statute has been
      satisfied.

Commonwealth v. Hollingshead, 111 A.3d 186, 189 (Pa. Super. 2015)

(citation and brackets omitted).

      Here, in rendering his SVP recommendation, Dr. Stein testified that he

considered, inter alia, the court order for the assessment, report from the

SOAB investigator, the criminal information, complaint, and affidavit of

probable cause, prior criminal history records, treatment records, records

from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and a prior Sex Offender

Board assessment and investigation. See N.T., 6/13/22, at 8-9, 24-25, 32-

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33. Dr. Stein further testified that Waldo did not participate in the evaluation.

See id. at 9.

      Dr. Stein noted that he reviewed fifteen different criteria for the issues

of mental abnormality and predatory behavior. See id. at 12-19, 26. In

particular, Dr. Stein testified that Waldo had a mild intellectual disability, and

a history of homelessness, substance abuse, and unstable jobs. See id. at 18.

Dr. Stein noted that the convictions generating this assessment involved

Waldo preying on a 66-year-old woman, including masturbating on the victim,

ejaculating on the victim, forcing oral sex on the victim, and physically

assaulting the victim. See id. at 9, 10, 17; see also id. at 20-21 (highlighting

that Waldo had assaulted the victim on two prior occasions). Dr. Stein also

observed that Waldo had previously asked a 14-year-old girl to see her breasts

and touched a 3-year-old boy’s penis. See id. at 9-10, 11, 14, 18, 29-30.

According to Dr. Stein, Waldo had a mental abnormality or a personality

disorder and that Waldo acted with predatory behavior. See id. at 19, 22, 31.

Dr. Stein concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support a finding that

Waldo should be classified as an SVP. See id. at 24, 33; see also id. at 23

(noting that Dr. Stein’s report was entered into evidence without objection).

At the conclusion of the SVP hearing, the trial court determined that Waldo is

an SVP. See id. at 39.

      Viewed in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the record

provides clear and convincing evidence that Waldo is an SVP. In fact, Dr.

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Stein’s opinion, rendered with a reasonable degree of profession certainty,

“constituted sufficient evidence for the trial court to make its SVP

determination.” Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, at *8.

       In effect, Waldo merely restates his arguments from his first claim

regarding Dr. Stein’s consideration of facts and data that he had been made

aware of or personally observed outside the evidence admitted at the guilty

plea proceedings. However, as Aumick concluded, Dr. Stein was permitted to

consider this evidence in rendering his opinion as to whether Waldo should be

classified as an SVP. See id. (noting that an expert’s reliance on inadmissible

facts to explain the basis of their SVP opinion does not constitute substantive

evidence; nevertheless, the expert’s opinion itself is substantive evidence).

Moreover, to the extent Waldo asks this Court to reweigh the evidence

presented at the SVP hearing, we decline to do so. See id. at *9 (noting that

challenge to the information considered by the expert in making an SVP

assessment goes to the weight rather than the sufficiency of the evidence and

further declining to reweigh the evidence presented at the SVP hearing).3

Accordingly, Waldo’s second claim is without merit.

       Judgment of sentence affirmed.

       Judge McLaughlin joins the memorandum.

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3 Notably, as in Aumick, Waldo did not raise a weight of the evidence
challenge to his SVP determination before the trial court. See Pa.R.Crim.P.
607. Therefore, he failed to preserve such a challenge on appeal. See
Aumick, 2023 WL 3939850, at *9 n.15.

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     Judge Pellegrini concurs in the result.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 07/10/2023

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