Com. v. Carson

• Decision Date: 17 June 1991
• Citation: 405 Pa.Super. 492,592 A.2d 1318
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Christopher CARSON.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 1318

592 A.2d 1318

405 Pa.Super. 492

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Christopher CARSON.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued March 7, 1991.

Filed June 17, 1991.

Eric Schoenberg, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for the Com., appellant.

Samuel C. Stretton, West Chester, for appellee.

Before BECK, POPOVICH and HOFFMAN, JJ.

BECK, Judge:

The case raises the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence where a defendant has been found guilty of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. Christopher Carson was tried and convicted in a nonjury trial of receiving stolen property ¹ and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. ² Subsequently the trial court found that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and granted a motion to arrest judgment, discharging the defendant. The Commonwealth appeals. We reverse.

The applicable standard of review for claims which challenge the sufficiency of the evidence is well-settled. Since the Commonwealth is the verdict winner, the reviewing court must view all the evidence at trial, as well as all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. We must determine whether the trier of fact could have found that each element of the offense was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Both direct and circumstantial evidence must be considered equally when assessing the sufficiency of the evidence. Commonwealth v. French, 396 Pa.Super. 436, 578 A.2d 1292 (1990). Furthermore the same standard is applicable whether the appeal is from a judgment of sentence or an arrested judgment. Finally, "[t]he latitude of the trial judge in passing upon a nonjury verdict is no greater than the authority of a trial judge to set aside a jury verdict." Commonwealth v. Driver, 343 Pa.Super. 13, 493 A.2d 778, 779 (1985).

Viewed favorably to the Commonwealth, the evidence upon which Carson was convicted was as follows. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Willie James parked his car directly across the street from his home in Philadelphia. At about 1:30 a.m., James was awakened to the sound of screeching tires. He looked out his window, saw that his car was gone and immediately called the police. About five minutes later the police arrived and James reported his car stolen.

As a result of James' report, Officer John McCafferty and his partner immediately began patrolling the area near James' home. In a short time, the officers spotted the car parked on the sidewalk a few streets away from where it had been stolen. The officers, who were in an unmarked car, radioed for uniformed officers in a marked patrol car. When Officer McCafferty saw the patrol car approaching the stolen vehicle, he and his partner also started to drive towards it. McCafferty saw three men leave the stolen car, look in his direction and run. One of them was Carson. Officer McCafferty chased Carson and caught up with him a short distance later. The officer never lost sight of the fleeing appellant.

Carson had gotten out of the car from the front passenger seat. The car had a broken steering column and a smashed right vent window. Just prior to the time that Carson and his companions exited the car and fled, the car had been parked on the sidewalk with the motor off and the doors closed. Carson's arrest took place approximately twenty minutes after James had first been awakened by the sound of screeching tires.

After the Commonwealth presented its evidence, the court denied Carson's demurrer. Carson then testified. He denied any connection with the stolen vehicle. In fact, he claimed that he was not in the car that night. Instead, his testimony was that he was walking in a normal fashion up the steps to his home in the vicinity where the stolen vehicle was parked. He claimed that the police inexplicably stopped him, felt his chest and, simply because his heart was beating quickly, arrested him. Although Carson claimed that at least three other people, including his girlfriend and her brother, witnessed this event, no one else testified on his behalf at trial.

Carson was convicted of receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He then filed post-verdict motions challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. After argument and reconsideration, the trial court entered an order arresting judgment. The trial court concluded that the Commonwealth failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Carson had the requisite criminal intent or that he possessed or "operated" the vehicle. According to the trial court, the evidence showed only that he was present in the vehicle. Under the facts of the case, the trial court's decision cannot be upheld.

In order to convict Carson of receiving stolen property, it was necessary for the Commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the vehicle was stolen, that Carson was in possession of it and that he had "guilty knowledge;" that is, he knew or had reason to know that it was stolen. See In Interest of Scott, 388 Pa.Super. 550, 566 A.2d 266, 267 (1989); Commonwealth v. Grabowski, 378 Pa.Super. 454, 549 A.2d 145, 148 (1988),appeal denied 522 Pa. 583, 559 A.2d 526 (1989).

In addition, a conviction for unauthorized use of a vehicle must be predicated on proof that the defendant operated the vehicle without the owner's consent and that the defendant knew or had reason to know that he lacked the owner's permission to operate the vehicle. See In Interest of Scott, supra; Commonwealth v. Dunlap, 351 Pa.Super. 43, 505 A.2d 255 (1986).

In the instant case, the Commonwealth proved by direct evidence that the vehicle was stolen and that James had not given Carson permission to operate the vehicle. This is undisputed. The trial court, however, in granting arrest of judgment determined that under the receiving stolen property charge the Commonwealth failed to prove Carson's guilty knowledge and his possession of the car. In addition, the trial court concluded that under the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge the Commonwealth failed to prove Carson's guilty knowledge that he was operating the car without the owner's consent and that he was "operating" the car. We disagree.

As noted above, the intent requirement, i.e., the requisite knowledge that the car was stolen can be shown entirely through circumstantial evidence. While it is clear that mere possession without more is insufficient to show that the defendant knew or should have known that the property was stolen, other facts can make the inference of guilty knowledge reasonable, even compelling. ³ Such circumstances include but are not limited to the unexplained possession of recently stolen property, flight from the police or other evidence indicating an attempt to avoid capture and the condition of the property indicating a theft. ⁴

Not one but all of the above additional circumstances were present in the instant case. Carson was in a vehicle which the factfinder could reasonably infer had been stolen only minutes earlier. ⁵ In addition, as soon as the patrol car and the unmarked police car approached the stolen vehicle, Carson and his companions exited the vehicle, looked at the officers and fled. This evidence of flight corroborates the inference of guilty knowledge. See In Interest of Scott, supra; Commonwealth v. Phillips, 258 Pa.Super. 109, 392 A.2d 708 (1978); Commonwealth v. Murray, supra. Compare Commonwealth v. Scudder, 490 Pa. 415, 416 A.2d 1003, 1005-1006 (1980) (no evidence that defendant, who was a passenger in a stolen van, attempted to or concurred in the judgment to evade the police; only operator of van attempted to flee, therefore guilty knowledge of passenger could not be inferred).

Moreover, the stolen car had a broken vent window on the passenger side of the car and a broken steering column. From these physical features the fact finder could infer that Carson knew or should have known that the vehicle was stolen. See In Interest of Scott, supra (broken steering column); Commonwealth v. Phillips, supra (motorbike's serial number marred and bike obviously repainted); Commonwealth v. Murray, supra (ignition wires of car "pulled down"). Compare Commonwealth v. Dunlap, supra, 505 A.2d at 257 (evidence of guilty knowledge was insufficient where car had "no damage to the dashboard or steering column which would indicate that it had been started or operated unlawfully").

In our view, these circumstances taken together clearly support the inference that Carson had guilty knowledge that the car was stolen and satisfies the mens rea under the receiving stolen property charge. The mens rea burden under the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge is not as strict as the one for receiving stolen property. It, therefore, follows that the Commonwealth necessarily met its burden for the lesser mens rea required for unauthorized use of a vehicle. For the intent element of the latter offense the Commonwealth must show that the defendant was reckless with respect to the owner's lack of consent in that he had consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the owner has not consented. Commonwealth v. Hogan, 321 Pa.Super. 309, 468 A.2d 493, 495-496 (1983). As this court previously has noted:

If the unexplained possession of recently stolen property will support an inference of guilty knowledge of its theft, will it not support with even greater strength an inference of recklessness with respect to the owner's lack of consent to operate a recently stolen automobile? The answer is obvious, and so this Court has held.

Commonwealth v. Hogan, supra, 468 A.2d at 497 (emphasis in original).

The only remaining question, therefore, with respect to the sufficiency of the evidence for both charges is whether the Commonwealth established that Carson had the requisite dominion and control over the car to show that he possessed it and "operated" it jointly with his companions. Again the answer to this question...